Without Life
by Na Hoku
Summary: [Sasunaru, Joint fic between QianYun and Seito.] 5 years ago Naruto disappeared without a trace. The immediate effects were devastating. Now a person named Shin appears in the middle of the Chuunin Exam. With him, he brings Death herself. R
1. Without a Trace A Boy Named Shin

Mesa no own Naruto. **(READ NOTES FIRST! FORGIVE ALL RANDOM CHAOS MIXED IN WITH IT. THE IMPORTANT STUFF IS BOLDED!)  
**  
Seito: Are we allowed to do this?  
  
Seika: I don't know.  
  
Seito: Some help you are. =sticks tongue at Seika=  
  
Seika: =Grin=  
  
Seito: =Sigh= Don't mind my Muse/OC. She's stupid (Seika: HEY!) and weird (Seika: YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S WEIRD!) and has plenty of sarcasm and also plotting my death. (Seika: You better believe it!!!) Don't worry she doesn't appear in the story. Okay. There are something that are needed to be said here. First. **This is a joint fic between myself (Seito) and The La/=/er.** The La/=/er isn't here right now. **We take turns writing the chapters.  
**  
=The La/=/er pops up=  
  
Seito: ACK! When did you get here.  
  
La/=/er: Just now. (Seito: But... but... but...) =smile=  
  
Seito: And you say people are going to sent you to an early grave. Anyways because this is a joint fic, **chapters will take a while to come out.** (Seika: What are you talking about!!! You're just lazy. You can have the chapter typed out and ready to go in under a week with some inspiration. =heads towards La/=/er to start there too. Seito tackles her before she gets there= La/=/er: Thank you. Seito: Welcome to inside my head, literally.) **Writing styles maybe different (two people writing here) just bare with it please.  
**  
La/=/er: Is it normally this chaotic in your mind?  
  
Seito: Yeah. What else? **Oh, all OC characters either belong to myself or The La/=/er.** Just don't mind Seika. She's my permanent muse and doesn't appear in the story (hopefully). I need to work on _'Kagau waku wa hana no shita ni te'_.  
  
La/=/er: Somehow I don't think she's going to let you do that. =points to Seika=  
  
Seito: Eh? =Seika locked the door, boarded it up, locked it with chains, ect=  
  
La/=/er: I think she's going to keep you locked up in here so that you can't work on '_Kagau waku wa hana no shita ni te'_.  
  
Seito: =sweat drop= Okay. My muse/OC is definably weird. **This is the sequel to The La/=/er's 'His Arms', 'To Act As A Father' and 'Orochimaru's Wish'. I suggest you read those first.** You don't have to but it offers much more detail on the reactions when Naruto to left. There are tidbits in the first part of the story but for the detail part you're better off reading La/=/er's stories. **Well enjoy the story then.  
**  
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_Without Life_  
  
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Summary: 5 years ago Naruto disappeared without a trace. The effects of his disappearance were devastating. Now a person named Shin appears in the middle of the Chuunin Exams. With him, he brings Death herself...  
  
**Prologue: Without a Trace...  
**  
====  
  
5 years ago...  
  
Konoha was at war with Sound and Orochimaru. Soon, all the countries were dragged into this mess as well. War broke out everywhere. It was a bloody time for everyone. No one knew who to trust anymore. Blood spilled every day on the battlefield. Many tried to wash the blood off their hands, but the stench of death never left them. Enemies and friends were lost every single day, falling in battle. The death count rose and a few people began to fear.  
  
Yet despite this, as strange as it seems, Konoha remained in somewhat peaceful times. People carried on with their business with little thought of the war. The only ones who thought of it were the shinobis. But even then an Uzumaki Naruto usually washed their fears away.  
  
He didn't know it and the people didn't realize it, but Naruto had a positive effect on Konoha. He made things more... livelier, I guess. There was never a dull moment with his pranks and his determination to succeed was contagious to the newer genins and students. Even some of the adults, who used to scorn him, were affected by his bright attitude. He wormed his way into people's heart with his unique style and personality. True he may act like an idiot at times but it was his own way of life.  
  
Then tragedy struck...  
  
It was a cold night when it happened, shortly after Sasuke left Naruto at his house. That night was the last time Sasuke saw his friend. The next day Naruto didn't show up for training. Team 7 began to worry. Naruto never missed training. He would have made it there rain, snow, or shine, whether he was sick or not.  
  
So after stopping at Iruka's house to pick up Naruto's spare key, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Iruka headed towards Naruto's house, full of worry. They were surprised to find the house empty and everything seemed untouched. The 4 took to the streets in search of their blond friend. The next day Tsunade was informed. She had everyone who was available search for Naruto. After a week of searching and with no answer found, 3 possibilities came up.  
  
1 was that Naruto was killed.  
  
2 was that Naruto was kidnapped  
  
3 was that Naruto betrayed the village  
  
Sakura protested greatly as she heard that last theory and she wasn't the only one. Everyone who knew Naruto knew that he would not abandon the town he grew up in just like that. (Jiraiya, Kakashi, Iruka, and Tsunade all thought it would have sounded more reasonable a few years ago before they met him.) Besides, there was nothing missing in Naruto's apartment that would have suggested that he did leave. All his clothes were in placed in the closets and dresser drawers. Not a single scroll, kunai and shuriken was missing. The cupboards were well stocked in food. The only things that seemed to be missing were whatever Naruto was wearing and had with him that day. Other then that, the house was untouched, as if Naruto was going home that day. Plus no ninja, who thinks ahead, would run away without rations and weapons if given the chance to pack before escaping.  
  
The second and first theories were then looked upon. They actually made more sense then the third, although no one wanted to believe the first two. Those theories however accused Sasuke of these crimes. But the landlady saw Naruto enter his house that night and watched Sasuke leave but the next morning she didn't see nor hear the boy leave. That proved three things. One, Naruto was attacked sometime between the time he arrived home and the next morning. Two, Sasuke was innocent. Three, whoever attacked Naruto was most likely in the house when Naruto got home.  
  
But from there it made little sense. There was no forced entry into the house and when the house was checked over, every door and window was locked. Because of what was sealed in Naruto (Kyuubi) there were various seals around the apartment that prevented ninjas from teleporting in or anything else. So how did the attacker did in? The house was neat and untouched. There were no signs of a fight. Of course they all knew that Naruto would have fought back if he was attacked. But there was always the possibility that he was knocked out just as he got in.  
  
The only clues they had to this mystery were a piece of orange cloth from Naruto's jacket and a kunai. There was a black sticky substance on the kunai. It wasn't blood, tar, ink, or any other substance they could think of. The substance closely reminded them of blood, just the wrong color and gave off a smell like rotting bodies. No one knew where it had come from.  
  
======  
  
Finally everyone accepted the fact that Naruto was gone. While the people who didn't know the blond boy of energy, thought good riddance to that demon, those who knew Naruto took the fact hard. Sasuke took it the hardest.  
  
Iruka always seemed depress. His classes were no longer filled with smiles. He trudged through out the day with a sad smile or frown. Sakura grew quiet. She missed arguing with her friend. Yes, Naruto was her friend even through all she did was hit him and ignore him. Hinata stopped smiling for long period of times, always going off alone to train. That alone damped everyone's mood around her. Neji felt an unspeakable anger. Naruto wasn't supposed to leave or disappear. Why would he disappear? Lee felt his determination waver many times and felt confused most of the time. He didn't understand any better then anyone else. Kakashi seemed the same on the outside but his students and Iruka knew better. Kakashi was blaming himself again for the supposed death/disappearance of one of his friends and students. Tsunade practically cried herself to sleep every night at the fact that she lost someone close to her again. When she wasn't doing that she was a daze trance until someone talked to her. Jiraiya disappeared again, wanting to isolate himself, but some suspected he went off to look for Naruto himself. Many thought that he didn't take the death of his student too well. Shikamaru actually spent more days lost in thought then sleeping or cloud watching. Chouji didn't eat as much for days. He didn't look any kinds of noodle type of food, especially ramen. Konohamaru was lost, he lost the first person to acknowledge who he was and not whose grandson he was. He was the one of the very few who took that sadness and used it as an excuse to grow even stronger. Even Kiba grew quiet.  
  
Sasuke further had become enraged the first few weeks. After he came back from being sent away, he locked away his emotions and didn't even bother to show emotions like anger or annoyance. He just seemed to brush everything aside. It was like he completely detached himself from all of his emotions. No could blame him. He just lost his first friend and rival after losing his entire family. Without Naruto, everything seemed the same. With Naruto there were shades of black and white, without him there was only gray. Naruto was his light and without him everything was dark. Without Naruto, Sasuke was dead. Sasuke had no reason to truly get stronger; he had no one to challenge him to do so. He wasn't even able to push himself for the thought of revenge on his brother he yearned so long for. Without Naruto to tell him that he could do much more, that the revenge on the path he was walking on was not necessary, he lost the will to walk that path. It seemed that he couldn't reach for the path he was walking on, the path towards Orochimaru, without telling him not too. It was ironic that Sasuke only stopped when there was no one to tell him to stop.  
  
Konoha underwent a change. The air suddenly seemed depressing. The town grew quiet, too quiet. Everything was peaceful, yet too peaceful. Colors weren't as vivid and vibrant. Everything seemed duller. The clouds weren't white, just shades of gray that hid the sun almost everyday. Birds and animals seemed to sensed this. A few animals disappeared and at one point birds even stopped singing. There was something missing and only a few people knew...

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**Chapter I: A Boy Named Shin**  
  
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[[He's here.]]  
  
You said that the last time.  
  
[[I'm sure he is here.]]  
  
Whatever you say, otouto. Whatever you say.  
  
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Tsunade folded her arms, rested on the desk and then rested her head on her arms. Her tall piles of paperwork were forgotten. They could wait. Right now, she was tired. She felt older then she was. Everything had changed when Naruto disappeared. Right now the Chuunin Exams, third round was taking place. Tsunade didn't really want to watch it so she disappeared into her office with thoughts of finishing off a few papers. She didn't get very far.  
  
She thought back to preliminaries rounds of the Chuunin exam. Once again there were too many people to advance to the final round. As she watched the preliminaries take place, Tsunade overheard a conversation take place between Gaara and his siblings. What they said was disturbingly true. She didn't want to believe those words, but she knew they were truth.  
  
=Flashback=  
  
Gaara watched the battle take place below. Lee verses some genin from grass country. He already knew that Lee would win. Lee was the stronger of the two from the beginning. Gaara had trouble with Lee and that was a lot to say. Lee would win against this weak genin. Yet he noticed that something seemed lacking. His siblings seemed to agree with him. "There's something wrong here," said Temari.  
  
She too was watching the battle with great care. "Something has changed," she continued. "I agree," commented Kankurro. "And I haven't seen that loud- mouthed blond brat yet."  
  
The three genins from Sand didn't spot Naruto as the Chuunin exam started. They knew he couldn't have become a Chuunin. This was the first exam since the war broke out. There was the thought that he was killed in battle, but Konoha didn't let their genins fight in the war.  
  
"Yeah. Didja notice that this town is dead silent or the fact that everything here seems so duller, boring, almost dead," said Temari. Kankuro nodded. They all had noticed but they didn't know why. What had happened in this village that used to be so filled with life?  
  
"This town has no life," Gaara suddenly said. "It's empty and dead." Temari and Kankuro nodded in agreement. Tsunade overheard the whole thing and strangely it sounded so true.  
  
=End of Flashback=  
  
Tsunade thought long and hard about this. It was true. Ever since Naruto disappeared everything just seemed dead. Ever since that day, she always felt tired no matter how much sleep she got. Gaara and his siblings spoke the truth. Konoha was a ghost town. Tsunade looked out the window. Everything seemed so quiet and the sky looked like it was ready to rain nearly everyday.  
  
Tsunade peered the window, catching something strange. The dark clouds in the sky seem to disappear. They seemed whiter in fact. Even the sun seemed to shine brighter. How strange. Tsunade wasn't given much time to ponder at it, for at that moment, there was a knock on her door. Besides, it was probably just a trick of the light. "  
  
KNOCK!!! KNOCK!!!"  
  
"Come in," said Tsunade wondering who it was. A shinobi rushed in. "Hokage- sama," he started quickly. "There's someone outside the gates. He carries no passport, no identification, or symbol of a country, but he wishes to stay in the town. His name is Shin. What would you like me to do Hokage- sama?"  
  
Tsunade stood up. What a wonderful excuse to leave the office. Besides, she was getting cramped in there. "Show me," she commanded, grabbing one of her coats. Everything seemed so tiring lately.  
  
====  
  
Tsunade looked at the visitor. 'Now why is someone visiting here? All missions have been put on halt. He can't be a genin for the Chuunin exams, it's already started, and it's rare for wanderers to just show up. The person had their back turn to her. All she saw was a black cloak with a black hood. "Hokage-sama," said one of the ninjas that were with the visitor.  
  
The person looked back to see Tsunade. Tsunade was taken aback at the sharp sapphire eyes. She looked closer and saw tints of red mixed within them. A high tan scarf covered the bottom half of the face. Other then that, the black cloak hid the rest of the body and face. The person bowed to Tsunade. "It's a pleasure to meet the Hokage on my first visit here," said the person.  
  
The first thing that came into Tsunade mind was the person was a boy. Second thing, which stunned her, was how familiar the voice sounded. 'It sounds so much like Naruto,' thought Tsunade. 'But it can't be.'  
  
"I understand you want to enter into the village, but carry no passport or identification," said Tsunade. The boy smiled behind his scarf and nodded. "Yes, I do. If that's not too much trouble," he said politely.  
  
'He can't be Naruto. Naruto would have called by obaasan already and the brat doesn't have blue eyes with red in them,' thought Tsunade sadly. Her hopes that had dashed at sound of this person's voice, died quickly. "Shin right? Come into my office. We need to talk," said Tsunade.  
  
Shin nodded again and followed Tsunade back to her office. It didn't take them long to get back. Behind her desk once more and with Shin sitting in a chair in front of her, Tsunade began her paperwork once more, asking a few questions to Shin. "Why do you want to enter the village?"  
  
Shin who watched quietly and patiently said, "I am searching for someone. I believe this person here in Konoha." Tsunade looked up from her paper work, slightly surprised at this. Why was this boy searching from someone? Was is for revenge or a missing family member/friend? "Who, may I ask," she said. There was a flicker of curiosity in her eyes. Shin laughed quietly noticing the flicker. "Curiosity often kills the cat, Hokage-sama. It's best I not tell you so you do not get mixed up in this mess. Besides, his true name is unknown, even to me," said Shin. "This man I'm searching for is very dangerous. He's cruel, cunning, sly, smart, and will use whatever dirty tricks he knows to get the job done. No offense or anything, but compared to a lot of your shinobis, this man makes them look like children's toys. He may be in this village or he may be not. You could say he's a killer."  
  
Tsunade grew quiet. She thought about what Shin had just said. Was there really such a person wandering the streets of Konoha? Was this person as dangerous as Shin claimed he was? "Why are you looking for him then? You're not a shinobi hunter are? You carry no symbol of a village," asked Tsunade. She studied the boy (teenager) in front of her. There was something about this boy, but Tsunade couldn't put her finger on it. It was strange. It was like she knew who this boy was, but yet she didn't know.  
  
Shin's sapphire and crimson eyes sparkled a bit. "You're right. I'm not a shinobi hunter. I'm not even qualified to be one I think. I'm a wanderer, looking for a man. I don't know for sure if he's here or not but give me at least a month to check around."  
  
Tsunade eyed him. With those words, this person could be suspected to be a spy. "Take off your cloak and scarf please. It's getting annoying," she commanded. Surprisingly Shin complied. He drew down his hood and took off his cloak and then pulled down his scarf. What Tsunade saw stunned her speechless.  
  
Underneath the black hood and tan scarf, was an all too familiar face. Spiky, unkempt yellow hair and tan skin with those whiskers that everyone hated so; Tsunade was looking at the mirror, older, image of Naruto. "Naruto," whispered Tsunade almost daring herself to say that name.  
  
Shin looked at her confused. "No. I'm Shin," he said. 'Who was Naruto?' Tsunade sat down, that little flicker of hope dieing again. "Yes, of course. No, you just remind me of someone," she said. Shin looked at her completely confused.  
  
Tsunade decided to change the subject there. She needed to get her mind off him. She pulled out a piece of paper, a temporary visitor's form. "So what village do you come from," she asked. She didn't meet Shin's confused eyes. "I don't know," said Shin finally answering. Tsunade frown but still didn't look up. "Okay how old are you?" Shin's answer surprised her again. "I think it's 17 but I'm not too sure about that." Tsunade noted that down on the paper. "Your birthday?" Shin thought about it. "I don't know that one for sure either, but I go by September 23rd."  
  
Tsunade bit her lip. Okay this was getting really confusing. "Okay then. Full name." Shin paused. "Truthfully?" he asked. Tsunade looked up at him that time. "Yes," she said. Shin chewed on his lips as well. "I go by Shin, but my real name is also unknown." Tsunade's frown grew bigger. "What do you mean by all these unknowns, not sure, and I-don't-know, phrases," she asked.  
  
Shin hesitated. "I really don't know," he said. His expression grew very serious. "You see Hokage-sama. The reason why I'm after this man is because he stole something very important to me. What he stole, Hokage-sama, was my memory." Dead silence engulfed the room quickly.  
  
====  
  
Meanwhile  
  
====  
  
Sasuke watched the fight down below. No signs of interest or boredom were shown. He just seemed to stare. The fight continued onward.  
  
Down below, Kankuro and Lee were fighting. Sasuke was pretty sure Lee would win. After all Lee was the faster of the two and there's only so much that Kankuro do with his puppets against Lee's speed. This battle would be over soon. At least, that's what Sasuke thought. His battle for this round had already happened. Sasuke, of course, advanced. Now he was just waiting for the next round to occur.  
  
Sakura watched her teammate from the audience. Once again she had failed to advance to the third part. She bit her lip. There was that look in Sasuke's eyes again. That look of a boy who was lost. She had only seen it a few times, but lately it had came too often. Sakura was worried. She had already lost Naruto, she didn't want to lose Sasuke too. She just hoped Sasuke didn't do anything stupid.  
  
Sakura looked up. Tsunade was back from wherever she had left. Standing next to her was a person she had never seen before. The person was wearing a black cloak and high auburn scarf that covered his face. Sakura frowned. Who was the person? She saw no emblem of any village. The Hokage would not just let anyone into the village nor would she let just anyone stand by her during the Chuunin exams, where the risk of being assassinated was higher. She wondered who that person was. It must be someone important to be sitting next to Tsunade during the examination. ====  
  
Shin looked down below. So this was a Chuunin Exam. If he remembered correctly this was the first Chuunin Exam that was being held ever since the war broke out all over the place. 'So this is how the shinobis advances to the next level. Always wondered how they determined that,' thought Shin.  
  
Shin watched the battle with interest. This was the first time he got to watch a ninja battle up close. He had watched the war from afar. It was little too bloody for his taste. This, however, was very interesting and exciting too. Shin considered himself lucky that the Hokage was nice enough to allow him to watch with her. She seemed like a nice person.  
  
'Eyebrows is pretty good. Fast too. That other guy is too, but not good enough. Eyebrows will win,' thought Shin. He paused. Somehow the nickname he gave the boy in green and bowl haircut seemed familiar. He didn't know why though.  
  
Shin turned his attention back to the battle just in time to see Lee kick Kankuro across the field. All previous thoughts disappeared from his mind. Then Shin happened to look down.  
  
=====  
  
Sasuke looked up. There was someone sitting next to the Hokage. He frowned. It wasn't any of the Kages from the other countries. So who was it?  
  
Then that very same person looked down, straight at him. Sasuke blinked as he locked eyes with the person. Obsidian black met sapphire blue and crimson red...  
  
Somewhere in his near empty heart, Sasuke felt something. He wasn't sure what the feeling was but it felt good. Sasuke didn't know how to describe it. It was like he felt his heart begin to beat after so long of being frozen.  
  
=====  
  
Shin blinked as felt his own heart begin to beat faster. What a strange feeling. Did he know who this boy was?  
  
Shin chewed on his lip, almost drawing blood. Who was this boy? He needed to know. "Hokage-sama," he asked quietly. Tsunade looked towards him. "Yes?" Shin pointed to someone down below. "Who is that boy?" he asked.  
  
Tsunade looked down. A small piece of hope flared within her. "That's Uchiha Sasuke," said Tsunade quietly. She looked to see what kind of reaction Shin would have. Shin looked back down. "Uchiha Sasuke huh," he whispered to himself. There was a small smile on his face. There was something about that boy that Shin liked.  
  
======  
  
As predicted by Sasuke and Shin, Lee had won the fight. Kankuro put up a good fight, but in the end he was knocked unconscious. Lee trudged his way back up the stairs, looking tired and beat. Neji was there to help his friend. The boys had grown closer after Naruto disappeared.  
  
The next round was between Gaara and Kiri, a short blue haired and pale blue-eyed shinobi from Mist Country. Kiri was the only member of his team to make it to the finals. During the preliminaries he overpowered Sakura easily using his Unsanmushou no Jutsu, which also was his main Jutsu (like Naruto and his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.)  
  
Unlike Zabuza's Kirigakure no Jutsu, this jutsu enabled the user to completely to vanish into the mist instead of covering the user. The Byakugan and Sharingan would have a hard time following him because the body becomes exactly like the mist. From there it's just a matter of attacking. Because the body is almost like the mist itself, the user can attack from all side at once. Attacking the mist directly does nothing at all. But there is one weakness.  
  
Gaara looked at his opponent. This fight wouldn't be as hard as Uchiha or Uzumaki, but he knew this opponent was also someone not to be taken lightly. Gaara had seen Kiri's Unsanmushou no Jutsu during the preliminaries. A very tricky and sly jutsu. Uchiha would have no problem. One of his fire attacks would burn the mist away thus hurting Kiri who was the mist itself.  
  
Kiri studied Gaara closely. 'This boy is strong,' thought Kiri. 'But I should be able to take him down. His sand attacks won't have any effect on me.' Kiri sweated a bit. This boy was also the same boy who killed his preliminary opponent in over a span of 3 minutes. 2 minutes to let his opponent attack him, 30 seconds of taunting and the remaining 30 was to kill. Gaara's first opponent also happened to be Kiri's friend and teammate. 'I will avenge my teammate, Gaara of the Sand,' thought Kiri.  
  
Gemna, who was again refereeing, started the match. Neither boy moved at first. They just seemed to stare each other down. Kiri decided to make the first move then. "Mizu Bunshin No Jutsu!!"  
  
Instantly there were 10 copies of Kiri surrounding Gaara. 'So he didn't use Unsanmushou,' thought Gaara. The Bunshins attacked. Just as quick as they had appeared, the copies were gone as Gaara's sand protected him. Kiri bit his lip. So this was the absolute defense he had heard about.  
  
'Damnit, this isn't good. I need the same speed as that Lee kid to get past though these defenses. Throwing kunais wouldn't work either. His sand just defends against anything. Even if I do use Unsanmushou against him, there's no guarantee that I can get pass his defense. I'll just be using up my Charka,' thought Kiri bitterly. Gaara just stared at him. 'He's going to Unsanmushou next,' thought Gaara. He was right.  
  
"Unsanmushou no Jutsu!!" A mist appeared onto the field. Gaara still didn't move. 'The only way to beat this guy is to completely destroy the mist. That way it insures a world of hurt. Sabaku Kyuu and Sabaku SouSou won't work unless it can wrap around him. So I can either wait for him to burn out his Charka or just smother the mist,' thought Gaara. He grinned. He may not be as bloodthirsty as he was before, but that didn't mean he couldn't torture a few people.  
  
Gaara started to perform that hand seals for the jutsu and forces his Charka. "Ryuusa Bakuryu!!" Lee's eyes widened as he heard that. He knew that Jutsu. From nowhere, tons of sand appeared. Gemna wisely got out of the way. Soon the field was covered in sand. Kiri was buried underneath. Gaara stood there, unharmed. He looked towards Gemna, waiting for him to declare the match was over. Gemna did that.  
  
"Winner, Gaara," he said.  
  
====  
  
"That boy had to cover the field in sand, didn't he," asked Tsunade to herself. Shin just stared in wonder and slight shock. That was a fairly interesting fight. Ah, who was he kidding, that fight was wonderful, brilliant. Shin enjoyed himself.  
  
"Hokage-sama, what would you like to have done? The sand that Gaara has filled the stadium with will take awhile to clear away," asked one of the shinobis who popped himself up to the Hokage. Tsunade thought about. She didn't really want to wait for them to clear away the sand. That could take days and they still had to find that mist shinobi who was buried underneath all that sand. "Inform everyone that the Chuunin Exams will be postponed until the sand is cleared away," said Tsunade. The shinobi disappeared to his Hokage's bidding.  
  
"Is that all?" asked Shin. He looked at Tsunade to see her shaking her head. "No, it's just the beginning. That boy covered everything in sand. It will take awhile for them to move the sand out of here. They still have to find that mist ninja who is buried underneath that sand. Besides, why are you worrying? You'll be here for the next month," said Tsunade. Shin smiled and Tsunade grinned.  
  
Then she stood up. "C'mon. I will personally show you the place you'll be staying for the next month, but first we have to get permission." Shin looked at her confused. "Huh?"  
  
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Seito: Hoped everyone enjoyed. (Now I need to figure out how to get out of here.)  
  
La/=/er: I'll see you people in the next chapter.  
  
**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!**


	2. Introduction and Reintroduction

Disclaimer: I'm rather depressed that Seito has a much better disclaimer than me. /You forgot that you don't own Naruto either/ Oh yes; I don't own Naruto...NOOOOOO!!! The horror! You know what else is horrible? My penname doesn't completely show up in the summary. /That's despicable! / Don't mock me. /I'm you/ Which is why you shouldn't mock me. /The disclaimer is a bit long, isn't it?/ Shutting up.  
  
**If you want to, ignore everything except the bold in the author's notes. I'm following Seito.  
**  
La/=/er: Er...any notes you find in between the slashes are from my inner voice, usually pessimistic, but sometimes expresses secret desires of mine. It's a bit perverted too and sarcastic. So cover your virgin eyes when you see the slashes appearing. I think it's trying to evolve into an OC, but I'm gonna try not to let it. So...  
  
=Seito appears=  
  
La/=/er: Why are you here? /See, trying to send us into an early grave/ This is my chapter! My First Chapter! /Gee, look at all the capitals/  
  
Seito: Hide me!  
  
La/=/er: Hide...you? Why should I do that? And I see you escaped from the last chapter when Seika locked you.  
  
Seito: Yeah, I escaped and now Seika's trying to kill me!  
  
La/=/er: She always tries to do that.  
  
Seito: Yes, well, she found out some of the...stuff I'm going to do to her in _'Kagau waku wa hana no shita ni te'_  
  
La/=/er: There's a lot of stuff you're doing to her. Which one is it now?  
  
Seito: Well, you know when I told you about...=whisper=  
  
La/=/er: She found out about that?  
  
Seito: wince Yeah.  
  
La/=/er: =pause= HAHAHAHAHAHA! =rolls on the ground=  
  
Seito: =looks down at the insane girl= It's not funny! She might succeed this time!  
  
La/=/er: =still laughing= Go hide then, I'll protect you for this chapter.  
  
Seito: Thanks, I'll pay you back...wait, _this _chapter?  
  
La/=/er: =whistles...wait damnit, I can't whistle. Stupid whistling =grumble=  
  
Seito: La/=/er...that's such an awkward name, do you know how long it takes me to type it?  
  
La/=/er: Uh, not very long?  
  
Seito: NOT...oh yeah. Don't worry, I'll get you back for this next chapter.  
  
La/=/er: /Ooo, I'm so scared/  
  
Seito: =cackle= You should be scared, you just wait. You know what I do to Seika and I created her. Who knows what will happen to you...  
  
La/=/er: =nervous chuckle= Yeah... Anywayz! Sorry about the long conversation, first chapter to be able to do this and all, got a little excited talking to Seito. And something Seito forgot to say. **This story will not have SasuNaru/NaruSasu** (Haven't decided which one, probably won't be too much of a factor. We're probably not writing too much about things that would need the difference...I think) **until somewhere deep in the story. Friendship comes first. And action, can't forget about the action.** And it's my first multi-chap anyway, so I'm bullying Seito into it. (Seito: No, you're not. La/=/er: Oh, shush.) The horror! I almost forgot something! **As_ some_ of you may know, there are two pairings that I have established in the prequel. That of Ino/Sakura and Neji/Lee.** There is a slim chance that I will change the second pairing, as it is one of my newer obsessions, but if someone vehemently declares that they cannot stand Ino/Sakura, I still won't do anything. Naw, I'm just kidding, depending on how you ask, I might change the pairing. But the two couples shouldn't hold too much significance. Although it might change in this chapter...I'll get back to you at the end. **I almost forgot, KakaIru is another established couple.**  
  
Seito: =smile= Her favorite pairing aside from Sasunaru.  
  
La/=/er: Yuppity yup yup. =wide grin=  
  
**Review Responses:** /This should be fun/  
  
**_Dark Mimiru-Chan-_** You're way into it already, huh? Hope you still will be after this chap... And I started writing the day the first chapter was posted. So it's quick. Interesting face btw, it's...cute.  
  
**_RuByMoOn17-_** I'm making it a point to answer every review, for the first few chaps anyway. So here's the chapter. Hope you enjoy!  
  
**_Kisu-_** It's Kisu! Hey, look Seito, it's Kisu! She loves your first chapter! Seito: I'm glad you do. Now keep answering the reviews. La/=/er: =blows raspberry= Hey, you need to answer this question anyway! Seito: Ah, Shin. The reason for his name...I just randomly chose a name! Well, actually, the name wouldn't leave me alone and at the time I was writing the chapter, I couldn't think of one, so I used Shin. I made plans to change it, but forgot to. And this dangerous man is...I won't tell you! Nice to know this looks promising. I hope you enjoy La/=/er's chapter. I'm starting to write the third one already. La/=/er: I hate you. I haven't started. Seito: If she sees this, it means you finished. So stop saying that. I know you love me.  
  
**_Maboroshi-hime-_** That's horrible! I'm insulted! You didn't get instantly interested by my /butchered/ name and Seito's?! But still, glad you got hooked. And hope you still think it's amazing after this. I'm sure Seito would comment, but she seems to have run off.  
  
**_SasuNaru123-_** At the time that I'm writing this, I'm staring at your sn on AIM. I feel like I should talk to you, but that involves moving my hand from over the keyboard to the mouse...so no. You proposed very interesting questions, all of which I made Seito answer. Normally she would pop up here and tell you, but she's still missing. So Shin is still going to be walking with the cloak and scarf. And the reason why Seito gave it to him in the first place was so that people wouldn't recognize him easily and that he wouldn't get the same cold stares as Naruto did. The reason in the story is because...he thinks it's cool! Naw, personally I think it's because of what Shin is doing. Looking for that dangerous man, he can't exactly flash his face everywhere. And about the jutsu thing, you'll find out. Sometime...I think, lemme go ask my co-writer. I'll get back to you, look out for a response at the bottom.  
  
**_ghostninja85-_** Aw, she...um, person here, likes both our fics! Person looks forward to it! You'll find out who stole his memory. And Tsunade doesn't really _know_ that it's Naruto. I'm thinking it's because she had her hopes brought up so much, that she doesn't really believe it's him. Added to the fact that Shin looked really confused when she called him Naruto, sort of buries her hopes. But she still has her suspicions, she's not Hokage for nothing. And the thing with Sasuke was there originally when Seito first wrote it. I didn't think it would flow right if I _didn't_ keep it there. So like I said before, it's going to be some time before anything major comes out of it. Although definitely expect minor stuff. I'm also looking forward to how the plot progresses. This chapter's sort of a filler... Yes and it is a shame that we take time to update. Unless I post this up like a day or so after this moment, then it's a short time. And Seito's starting chapter third too as we speak, or as I type anyway.  
  
**_izumi-_** =cackle= I'm not too sure why I'm cackling at your questions, but it may be because it's a new day. I'm guessing all your questions are rhetorical, since if I actually answer 'em all, I'll ruin the story. So just keep reading and find out! But like I said before, this is sort of a filler, so not too many answers here.  
  
**_Gisela-_** The story always seems more interesting when the reader knows what's going on, but the actual characters in the story doesn't. And questions are presented on purpose, if you know everything right off the bat, it'll be sort of pointless to read the rest, ya know? Originally, in the prequel to this _'His Arms'_, the effect of Naruto disappearing wasn't quite as dramatic. It was more of a subtle undertone. But Seito had already written this, so I didn't want to change it too much. I already took out the existing SasuNaru relationship she originally had in here. If you want a reaction that's slightly more easy to swallow, for you anyway, read the prequel =nudge nudge= Go on, read it after this. For easy access, my penname's in this account's favorite authors. And you could say that the overall village doesn't give a damn, but that doesn't mean they won't be affected. That's two different issues. Because really... Seito: La/=/er, shut up, she doesn't want to know what you think. She just wants to read the story. La/=/er: Yeah, sorry about that, got over excited. Hey! Where've you been? You ditched me! Seito: Uh, hiding, remember? La/=/er: Oh...right. Okay, you can go back now. sniff And I resent that remark about it being a defect...hold on, I didn't write this...okay never mind, it's okay. Seito: =far off= I heard that!  
  
**_Jenniyah-_** Glad you think it's neat. I feel a little weird answering all these reviews, since they're not really for me. But I'll take them as my compliments anyway! And the thing about the necklace is that Shin is wearing a cloak and scarf. I expect the necklace is buried underneath it all, so she can't really see it. And when he took it off, his shirt was still hiding it. Guys tend not to flaunt their necklaces too much, not even if they have amnesia, or a form of it anyway. And I agree, if someone saw it, it would give away his identity. Thanks for reminding us. Seito: Really? I thought he left it at home the day he disappeared. La/=/er- Well then, it appears Seito came back to answer that question. Apparently, he left it at home. So, no necklace. I guess he wouldn't wear it when he was training anyway, which he was doing before he disappeared.  
  
**_darkiris-_** Um...glad you liked. So enthusiastic! Hope you still like after this!  
  
**_Yum-_** =chuckle= Interesting name you have there. And there's no such thing as a stupid review =cough= just as there's no such thing as a stupid question. And the answer to your question is in Kisu's response from us. Too lazy to type it over again and I'm procrastinating from writing the chapter as it is.  
  
**_Gopu-_** Glad you think it's a great start. Here's to a great continuation! Cheers! /Crazy girl/  
  
**_Shinobi-_** =giggle= Here's more! /I think she's delirious from hunger/  
  
Erm...sorry about the long response to some of the questions. I blame it on the excitement that comes from doing this the first time. **Now onwards and forwards. And...scroll!**

I edited this as I posted it and realized that without the extra spacing your eyes would die. But it was originally only 9 pages, now it's...a bit more.

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_Without Life_

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**Chapter II: Introduction and Reintroduction**  
  
Tsunade stood up and beckoned Shin to follow her. With slight hesitation, Shin also stood up and walked with her down the stairs. He glanced around as he walked, seeing various shinobi running around to do their duties. He saw Eyebrows, who seemed to be walking with a longhaired boy. He saw the sand-nin walking toward a male with something wrapped in bandages and a girl with a large fan. He saw all this and grew curious. He grew...very curious. It was not everyday that he saw so many people gathered in one place. He hadn't even been in such a crowd for quite some time. Especially not one with such different personalities apparent all over the place.  
  
As Shin continued to observe his surroundings, he failed to notice that Tsunade had stopped to talk to a shinobi a few feet away. He proceeded to walk forward, not noticing where he walking until a voice was heard in his head.  
  
Otouto, you might want to stop before you...  
  
There was a slight crash of bodies and both bodies involved fell to the ground. Tsunade had looked up after speaking with the shinobi and saw the incident. She struggled to hide a few chuckles for the position the two were in was...interesting to say the least. A pale skinned boy standing apart from the mess of bodies, rose his eyebrow curiously before asking, "Lee, where exactly are your hands?"  
  
Startled, both boys looked at their position on the ground and immediately blushed. Somehow, someway, they had managed to fall on top of one another. A hand trapped under one body, a leg trapping another hand. A foot there, a finger here. It was a rather confusing scene if one had only taken a glance at it. Worst of all, the boy on top had his head extremely close to the other's, ahem, private parts. Meaning that they had suddenly turned into a creature with 8 extending limbs and a head on each end.  
  
Blushing, there was a scramble of legs and a rustle of clothes before both boys managed to straighten their clothes and their limbs. Well, Shin adjusted his cloak and scarf, Lee sort of just... brushed off his green suit. Fully upright, they realized that they had attracted quite a crowd, all of whom were trying hard to hide their amusement; most were failing. Lee, never one to be brought down, simply turned to Shin and greeted him.  
  
"Hello, I'm Rock Lee! And if I may ask, who is the person that I managed to stumble onto?"  
  
Smiling, Shin replied with amusement apparent in his words, "My name's Shin, pleased to meet you." They shook hands and continued grinning at each other, although with Shin's scarf, it was hard to see. His curved eyes revealed all that was needed to know.  
  
"If you guys are done grinning at each other, do you think you wanna move_ away_ from the middle of the field?" The blank eyed boy questioned them, looking at them with obvious amusement. "And do you think you could let go of each other's hands? You've been holding each other for some time now."  
  
Before any action could be brought out from that statement, a girl with two buns on her hair walked up and teasingly said, "Aw, Neji-kun, are you jealous?" The aforementioned boy looked away and said firmly, "Of course not, why would I be?" The blush on his face seemed to detract the seriousness of his statement. The remaining onlookers swiveled their heads dramatically toward Neji, each holding an expression of disbelief. Each seemed to scream out the words, "Are you kidding me?"  
  
Before further embarrassment was to be brought down upon the poor boy, Tsunade stepped in and said, a bit too brightly, "What a coincidence! Just who we were looking for."  
  
"Huh? What were you looking for us for?" Lee paused and continued "We didn't do anything wrong, did we? If we did, I'll be sure to make it up somehow" Neji just glanced at Lee exasperatedly and thought to himself 'I can't believe I like this guy...'  
  
"Oh no, you didn't do anything wrong. Is there something you need to tell me though Lee?"  
  
"Er...no, of course not, there's nothing."  
  
With those statements, that poor Lee should've never uttered, the remaining people there glanced at him curiously. 'The pupil of Gai, that was so much like him, did something wrong? And didn't admit it yet?' were the thoughts running through their heads. While Lee was never the poster child for obedience, the absence of his parents led to a child who was eager to please. With that eagerness to please, he always tried to do what was right. And whenever he couldn't or later regretted his decision...well, let's just say he had a tendency to confess, in a most dramatic way.  
  
Anticipating the questions that would inevitably follow Lee's words, Tsunade, not suppressing her own, continued on with her inquiry. Meanwhile, Shin continued to look on with the utmost curiosity. He didn't understand the looks that Eyebrows, Lee, were getting, but still, they were funny. What he really didn't understand was the reason for Neji's supposed jealousy, nor the blush on his face.  
  
[[Onee-chan, do you understand what's going on? I don't comprehend the blush on Neji's face, nor the looks Eyebrows...I mean Lee, are getting.]]  
  
My dear otouto, I'm pretty sure the looks Lee are getting have something to do with him that we don't quite know about. But you of all people, should understand the blush on Neji's face  
  
[[What do you mean?]]  
  
Remember Akari?  
  
[[Akari? Oh! Oh...I see]] **(1)**  
  
By the time that Tsunade stopped interrogating Lee and turned toward Shin, there was an obvious blush on his face. One that could be seen, even with his high scarf. "Shin?" Tsunade spoke to him with a slightly concerned look on her face, "Are you feeling okay? You seem to be getting a bit red."  
  
With a nervous chuckle, Shin replied "Oh no, I'm fine. But perhaps we should follow Neji-san's advice and move off of the field. I think they're getting impatient." He pointed at several shinobi standing off to the sides, each holding an annoyed expression on their face. "I think they're trying to clean up the field."  
  
"Of course they are, that's what I told them to do." Tsunade replied with a look that bordered on sadism, "I think it would do them some good to respect their Hokage and wait patiently for us to move."  
  
"I don't think that's a good idea"  
  
"And why not Hyuuga Neji?"  
  
"It might have something to do with the fact that they look ready to pounce on you, Hokage or not. It's probably because of the familiar attitude that you show to them everyday. Using your authority as leader in this situation isn't going to work." With those words, as if to prove them true, several of the waiting shinobi started to run after them, shaking the sticks they held in their hands threateningly. Laughing, the small group ran from the field and stepped out of the perimeter of the surrounding building.  
  
Still chuckling lightly, Tsunade turned and spoke to Lee, "I should probably tell you the reason for me looking for you." Lee cocked his head curiously and replied, "Whatever it is that the Hokage wants me to do, I will do it with all my ability!" Smiling fondly, Tsunade replied, "That's good to know. I wanted to ask if you would be willing to allow Shin to stay in your home for the next few weeks. And also to show him around the village."  
  
"No problem! I would be glad to help." Lee spoke enthusiastically. You could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he thought about all the things that he would be able to show Shin. "I want to introduce him to Gai- sensei! May I go now, Tsunade-sama?" Both Lee and Shin looked at the Hokage curiously. With a laugh, Tsunade assented with a word of warning, "Just be careful not to wear him out. I'm sure he's tired from his journey."  
  
With a cry not to worry, Lee took hold of both Neji and Shin's hands, eager to show Shin to Gai. Tenten stayed behind momentarily, gazing at the village's leader with a thoughtful expression. 'I haven't heard you laugh and smile so much in a long while Tsunade-sama."  
  
Tsunade smiled wistfully, and replied with a soothing tone, "There's something about Shin that seems to brighten up the air around him. Did you see?"  
  
Tenten tilted her head and spoke with a soft smile, "Yeah, I haven't seen the people around here laugh so freely for some time. It's almost like a weight has been lifted from our shoulders and we are able to relax now. It's a subtle difference individually, but look, even the sky's brightened up!"  
  
"I think, perhaps for a little while at least, we will be able to revert to the Konoha that was free in every sense." Tsunade paused and shook her head, "You better run along now Tenten, I'm sure Lee's waiting for you impatiently." "Well, who told him to only hold Shin and Neji's hands?" Tenten laughed and began to walk, "I'll see you later Tsunade- sama!" She smiled and waved to Tenten and for the first time in a long while, she decided to take a stroll around the village. She missed seeing all the faces of her town.  
  
======  
  
True to Tsunade's word, Lee was waiting apprehensively for Tenten to arrive when she reached him. Letting go of both Neji and Shin's hand, he waved towards her and yelled at her to hurry. "Come on, I think I see Gai- sensei up ahead!"  
  
SWOOSH! There was a blast of wind and a hint of cheesy music in the background. "I have arrived, the...Lee, stop jumping around! You're still injured from the fight!" "Gai-sensei! You're here!"  
  
"Well of course I'm here, here else would I be?" Gai spoke with an amused tone in his voice. There seemed to be a lot of people that day speaking to Lee with amusement in their voice, hasn't there? Ignoring Gai's words, Lee continued to move with excitement, "Look, Gai-sensei! This is Shin! He's gong to be my housemate for the next few weeks."  
  
"New housemate, eh? How do you feel about that Neji?" Gai teased his student with a chuckle, pushing his statement a little further, "You're not jealous are you? I know you and Lee have grown quite close now, I don't suppose you wish you were in Shin's shoes, do you?"  
  
In typical Neji form, he decided to ignore them and simply grunted. Shin, meanwhile, blinked curiously at the new arrival. His sense of style was practically the same as Eyebrows! "And he seems to have the same excitement as his student' Shin thought. Before any more observations could be made, Gai turned to him and brightly exclaimed, "Well then! This must be Shin! Pleased to meet you, I'm Maito Gai, teacher to Lee, Tenten and Neji. Rival to Hatake Kakashi..."  
  
"Someone called?"  
  
With startled gasps and a silenced shriek (from Lee), the group turned to a nearby tree (they were standing on the edge of the training field they usually went to) and found Kakashi sitting calmly on a branch with a book. "Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?"  
  
"I heard my name and I came, why else would I be here?"  
  
"Kakashi, you are truly worthy to be my rival to be able to hear your name and appear so quickly!" Gai spoke with a fire in his eyes.  
  
Neji, on the other hand, scoffed and said, "He was there all the time; he was just hiding himself. I don't think he's fast enough to appear from wherever he was to that tree in the three seconds it took him to respond."  
  
"Neji! You are definitely my genius student to have figured that out so quickly. I am so proud of you!"  
  
Bewildered by everything that was happening around him, Shin was only able to stand and watch as the scene unfolded in front of his eyes.  
  
[[The people in this village are a bit weird, aren't they?]]  
  
Haha, don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll find that this is a place that you would like to be in.  
  
[[Huh? Onee-chan, what does that mean? Onee-chan?]]  
  
Shrugging his shoulders mentally, he looked back to the group only to find that they had turned to him and started staring at him curiously. "What? What happened?" He spoke; startled by the intense looks he received. Distracted, Gai replied, "Nothing, you just seemed...familiar for a second." Shin jerked in surprise. There was no way that he would've seemed familiar. Besides the fact that he was covered from head to toe by his cloak and scarf, he had never seen the man before in his life. Although there was still a feeling in the back of his mind that disproved of that thought.  
  
Lee shrugged his shoulders and spoke to Shin, "If you feel up to it, I can start showing you around the village now." "Yeah, sure, no problem." "You guys want to come with us?" Neji shook his head and replied, "I promised Hiashi-sama to return to help him after the rounds were finished. I should be getting there now." Tenten also shook her head and said, "I need to run some errands for my mom, sorry."  
  
Disappointed, Lee turned to his teacher and looked up pleadingly. Knowing that Lee wanted more people to come to show that Shin was welcomed, Gai spoke, "I also have some things to do, but I'll walk with you for a little while into the village." Curiously, Kakashi jumped down from the tree and also nodded, "I'll follow you guys a little too, it's on the way to where I'm going anyway..." He trailed off and looked at Shin curiously, "Besides, I want to learn a little more about the kid who'll be staying with us for the next few weeks."  
  
Shin chuckled nervously, but still brightly replied, "Thanks for showing me around. But I don't think there's really anything very interesting about me to say." "Nonsense, there's something interesting to say about everyone!" Kakashi swung his arm around Shin's shoulders and led him towards the village, he called back toward Lee and Gai, "Are you guys coming? We'll leave without you!" Intrigued by the man's behavior, the two quickly spoke a farewell to the rest of their team and hurried to catch up. Tenten and Neji stood there for a few moments, looking at the group, before glancing at each other and leaving the field.  
  
======  
  
Walking with Kakashi's arm around his shoulder brought weird feelings to Shin. Not feelings that would induce blushing, but a feeling of comfort, as if this was an action that was brought upon him daily. However, Shin hadn't had real human contact for some time now. For all he knew, it could be a feeling that would've came from anybody else. But deep within him, he felt content and he did not understand. So he decided to push those feelings away for now and focus on what was happening in the outside world.  
  
They were still walking in silence, despite what Kakashi had said about finding more about the boy. They were also walking quick, quick enough that Gai and Lee decided to just walk behind them for now and as a result, Shin could not see them and could not even hear them. Suddenly, he felt the arm around his shoulder loosen. He looked up, but before he could completely do so, he was slammed against a tree. They had still not exited the forest and the village was still a ways to go. He grunted slightly and lifted his head to look at Kakashi.  
  
He was startled to see a fiercely intense look on his face, different from the joking eyes that he had seen before. Shin saw Kakashi fully for the first time, noticing the cloth that was connected to Kakashi's shirt that covered most of his face. The hitai-ate that was originally covering his left eye had been lifted into his silver hair to reveal an eye unlike anything he had ever seen. At that moment, he was jolted with a feeling of familiarity and was torn between the deep feelings within that told him to either laugh or start shaking. He ignored both emotions and started straight into Kakashi's eyes.  
  
"Kakashi-san, if I may ask. Is there a particular reason why you just slammed me up against a tree? I'm certain I've not done anything to offend you...yet."**(2)**  
  
The man in front of him growled lightly and spoke, "I do not know the reasons for your presence here yet, but you can be sure that I will find out. And if I find something wrong, there will be no doubt that I will come after you. This village has put up with enough pain, it doesn't need anything else to deal with."  
  
"While I wish to say that I understand, Kakashi-sempai, I can assure you that I will do nothing to harm the people of this village. Now let _go_ of me."**(2)** The boy looked at the man in front of him with a glare of his own. Suddenly, Kakashi laughed and released his grip on the boy. Puzzled, the boy dropped his glare and instead stared at the laughing man curiously.  
  
"Is there a particular reason why you decided to threaten me and then laugh at my response?" Shin started to grow annoyed as the man continued to laugh. He grew further confused as the man looked up and apologized.  
  
"Sorry about that, I had to make sure that you weren't here for the wrong reasons. Visitors do not come to the village often and we had a few problems with our last visitors." Kakashi brought his hitai-ate back into position over his scarred eye. "I'm still not totally sure of your intentions, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now."  
  
"That explains you slamming me against the tree and threatening me. Now why were you laughing?" Shin asked Kakashi warily, as if expecting the other to start laughing again.  
  
However, Kakashi simply waved his hand at him and replied, "It's nothing, just that for a second, you reminded me of someone..."  
  
"You mean Naruto?"  
  
Kakashi looked up, startled, "Where did you hear that name?" He spoke with a demanding tone, one full of urgency.  
  
With a tilt of his head and a curious voice, Shin said, "Your Hokage called me Naruto when she saw me."  
  
"What?! Take off your scarf and cloak."  
  
Shin looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Looking just slightly pained, Kakashi added a quiet "Please". With a satisfied nod, Shin took off his scarf and cloak to reveal what Tsunade had seen a mere hour before. Wild blond hair, whiskered cheeks, blue, red-speckled eyes, a tanned face, and most significantly to Kakashi, a grin that seemed oddly fox-like. Shin narrowed his eyes curiously as Kakashi seemed to turned frozen upon the sight of his face. After a while of that frozenness, Shin waved his hand in front of the man's face. "Um, are you okay?"  
  
Kakashi shook himself awake and gruffly told Shin to put on his scarf and cloak again. Slightly worried about the man, Shin did as he was asked, only to hear a few seconds later the obvious noise of Lee and Gai approaching. Lee stepped up to the two males and looked at them with confusion. "I thought you guys would've been at the village already, with the pace you were going at. I know! You were waiting for us, right?"  
  
Seeing Lee's enthusiasm, Shin nodded and grinned; which once again was signified by his curved eyes. "Well, come on, the sun's not going to wait for us!" Shin and Kakashi looked up, finally noticing that there were only a few more hours left till sunset. They nodded and started their trek back to the village.  
  
A few minutes later, with their pace increased, they reached the village. They stepped into a place with people milling around and shops opened with a slightly subdued air, although the villagers still appeared to be happy. Shin, noticing the subtle gloomy air that seemed to hang around the village, glanced around curiously before turning to Lee, "Lee? Why does the village seem a bit...down?" Lee took a while to answer that question, all of them appeared to be startled by his question. Meanwhile, Shin looked around the village, seeing several clothing shops, weapon stores, and food stores. At that moment, his stomach decided to protest that it was unable to do its job. It wanted food and it wanted it now, damnit.  
  
Glad to have found an excuse not to answer the question, Lee eagerly dragged Shin off to one of the nearby food shops. "How silly of us! We should've realized that you would be hungry after journeying into our village!" By coincidence, the nearest shop was Ichiraku, where Kurenai's team was currently eating. Sighting the team, the two teachers and Lee walked over with Shin in tow over to their part of the counter.  
  
Greetings and introductions went around the counter. Shin was introduced to the teacher of the team, Yuuhi Kurenai, a woman with red eyes and an outfit that seemed to have been made by bandages. The only female of the team, Hyuuga Hinata, boasted white eyes and a shy demeanor. Shin had a feeling she was related to Neji. The two males of the team, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba also greeted him. Aburame Shino wore a coat whose neck reached to cover the bottom half of his face. On the bridge of his nose, there rested a pair of sunglasses. Everything about him seemed to point to mystery. Inuzuka Kiba, a boy wearing a coat with a furred hood and with red triangular markings on his face, had with him a white brown-spotted dog, which was introduced as Akamaru. The two of them combined seemed to make the area just that much louder.  
  
Shin greeted each of them carefully, startled yet once again by all the differing personalities in just this one area, in this one team. They sat with them and ordered their choice of ramen. Having never eaten ramen before, he asked Hinata for her opinion, seeing her look over at him shyly. She ordered for him a bowl of miso ramen and when the food came, they all dug in gratefully. Each was hungry for different reasons, but all ravenous nevertheless. With the first taste of the miso ramen, Shin was filled with the curious emotion again; a sense of familiarity, a sense of comfort, a sense of happiness.  
  
"Wow, this is really good!" he exclaimed with wonder, causing those at the table to look up curiously.  
  
"You've never eaten it before?"  
  
"No, that's why I had Hyuuga-san order for me."  
  
The aforementioned girl started before replying, "You can call me Hinata. So this is really your first time eating?"  
  
"Yup, I never had a chance to eat ramen before. I regret that now, this is really good! But then, I don't think I would want to eat this everyday."  
  
"Why not?" Kakashi asked with narrowed eyes, 'Could he be...but it doesn't make sense...'  
  
"Well, the best foods are only meant to be eaten once in a while, right? Eating this everyday would ruin its good flavor!"  
  
Pondering, the group agreed and with that the slight tension broke and they started to chat excitedly. Soon laughter filled the table and weaved through the air of the shop. People began to enter the shop, wondering who was laughing so cheerfully. Soon, news spread of the stranger laughing with Kurenai's team, Kakashi, Lee and Gai. Speculations and stories of the stranger were created. Within a few minutes, the part of town that seemed gloomy only moments before, buzzed with curiosity and excitement. The villagers expected to see strangers around the town, after all, the Chuunin exams were taking place. But a stranger that so readily laughed with one of their teams puzzled them. And so, gossip about that perked up a town that never even realized it was down.  
  
======  
  
The meal was soon finished and it was time for the group to part ways. Kurenai's team was to go to the field to train some more; Kakashi and Gai each went to run their own errands; and Lee went off to show Shin more of the village. With full stomachs, they parted and wished each other well.  
  
Lee and Shin continued to walk through the town. Everywhere they turned, they found another shop to talk about, another shop to go into. And with every shop they passed, more people continued to gossip. Soon, it elevated to a point where they, the villagers, sent out a little girl carrying flowers up to them.  
  
The girl shyly offered the bunch of tiger lilies held in her hands to Shin. The villagers at that spot, watched him curiously, wondering how he would react. Shin knelt down in front of the girl, took the flowers and patted her on the head. "Thank you flower-sama, to what do I owe this honor?" Shin smiled brightly at the little girl, of course, no one saw the smile, for his scarf was still covering his face, but the smile was heard through his voice.**(3)  
**  
The girl giggled, "Okaa-san brought the flowers from the Yamanaka flower shop. She said that she wanted to give you the best flowers available from our village to welcome you here." she recited word for word, or close to what her mom wanted her to say. "Can you show me where the flower shop is?" Shin asked her, tilting his head at the girl. She ran ahead a bit and looked back, "Follow me!" she said.  
  
He walked up to her with a glance to Lee and held the girl's hand, waiting to be led. "What's your name anyway?" "Yuri, my name is Yuri" "Yuri, huh? That's a pretty name. It means lily, right?" "Yup, it's my mom's favorite flower!"  
  
Laughing Shin replied, "Well I think you're as lovely as the flower you were named after." The villagers silently approved his choice of words. Yuri, around this part of the village, was highly adored. If Shin had treated her differently, there was no telling what would have happened. With the good reaction, the people began to spread more gossip, this one telling of the stranger's kindness, and apparent love of children.  
  
Both Lee and Shin followed Yuri to Yamanaka's flower shop. When they arrived, they found both Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura. Yamanaka Ino had a high long blonde ponytail, a purple outfit covered by an apron and arm warmers. Haruno Sakura wore a red dress to match with her short pink hair. Lee cried out in glee, fully realizing the shop they were in. He excitedly greeted the two and introduced them to Shin. Meanwhile, Yuri went to find her mother to introduce to Shin.  
  
Around the corner, she found her mom and led her to the boy. Walking up to Shin, Yuri's mother bowed slightly and introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Yuri's mother, Tamashii Rei. And who might you be?"  
  
Shin turned and also bowed, "Pleased to meet you, I'm Shin. I'm here visiting for the next few weeks."  
  
"Really? Well, I hope you enjoy your stay here. It was nice meeting you. I'm sure we'll see each other again. Say goodbye to Shin, Yuri" Rei beckoned to her daughter, anxious to leave to tell more stories about the boy in front of her. Yuri skipped the short distance up to Shin, tugged at his cloak and signaled him to bend down. Shin did so and was surprised by the kiss she bestowed upon him on the cheek. "I'll see you around!" Yuri giggled and ran to her mother who was waiting by the door.  
  
"Well, well, well, it seems that our new arrival is already on the receiving end of a crush." The remark came from Ino, who seemed amused by the events which unfolded in front of her. Sakura lightly hit Ino and quietly scolded her, "Ino! Really, you just met the guy, don't say stuff like that." Shin laughed in reply, "I don't mind, really. It's nice to know you've accepted me enough to be able to tease me."  
  
"An interesting way of putting it."  
  
"Shikamaru! What are you doing here?" The group turned toward the door where two boys were standing. Akimichi Chouji was a large boy carrying a bag a potato chips and every once in a while, reaching in to eat one, or rather, several. Next to him, the boy who spoke, Nara Shikamaru, leaned against the doorframe with a lazy look on his face. To Shin, everything about the boy screamed a slow and lazy personality.  
  
The boy pushed himself off the doorframe and walked up to Shin...slowly. So slowly, that Shin decided to just meet him halfway. They held out their hands, shook and introduced themselves. Ino repeated her question and Shikamaru replied, "Asuma-sensei wants us to meet him at the Korean BBQ. He said something about celebrating...something."  
  
"We have something to celebrate?" Ino questioned Shikamaru, puzzled over the reason of their outing.  
  
"I'm not sure, but apparently, he wants us to meet him there now."  
  
"I can't leave right now, I have to look after the shop."  
  
Sakura glanced around, "Well, I could stay here if you want, there doesn't seem to be much business today anyway." "Are you sure? Asuma-sensei probably just wants an excuse to pig out without seeming like he is." "Yeah, you guys go ahead, I don't have anything to do anyway."  
  
With those words, Ino took off her apron and prepared to exit the shop. She turned around before she did and said, "You can close up shop early today. I don't think there's going to be a lot of people buying flowers after the stall in the Chuunin exam." Sakura nodded and waved goodbye. After Ino left, she turned to the two remaining boys and asked, "Are you guys going anywhere today?"  
  
Lee answered, "I was bringing Shin around the village, but when Yuri brought us here, we walked through most of the town already." As those words exited Lee's mouth, the shop's door opened and the curious people outside poured in, using the excuse of buying flowers to see the stranger. Suddenly, with the shop full of people wanting to buy flowers, Sakura looked at the two boys pleadingly and said, "Well, if you're not going to do anything, can you help me out? We seem to be a bit busy now." Stunned by the sudden rush of people. the two boys nodded and Shin took his place around the shop while Lee helped by going behind the register. Sakura was helping the customers to wrap, arrange, and pot their flowers.  
  
Shin walked among the crowd, pointing out flowers to some, leading others through the crowd to the register. Soon, more and more people seemed to have questions and it was a long time before everyone was satisfied. Slowly, but surely, the crowd began to thin, people started to trickle out through the doorway. Most had already purchased flowers and left because of the lack of reason to stay any longer. By then, a couple of hours had passed and the sun had set. The three teenagers collapsed in front of the register after closing the doors behind the last of the customers.  
  
"You're good for the business Shin, you should come over more often." Sakura turned to Shin and continued, "I haven't seen this many people needing to buy flowers since..."  
  
"Since what?" Shin looked at Sakura curiously, imploring her to continue. Instead, Lee replied, "Since the Sandaime's funeral." "Your third Hokage?" "Aa, we haven't had much reason to celebrate or mourn quite as much since then."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Why are you apologizing? You didn't know. Besides, it's been five years since then." Here, Sakura's voice dropped, "Also five years since he disappeared."  
  
Noticing the sad look on her face, Shin decided to refrain from asking any more questions. He was saved from having to say anything else when Lee jumped up and exclaimed, "Well, we still have a little bit of the town to explore, let's go Shin. We'll see you later Sakura."  
  
Sakura nodded before getting up, Shin following shortly after. "I'll see you around Shin, it was nice to meet you." "Yeah, you too."  
  
Shin and Lee walked to the door and said another farewell before stepping out into the night air. =Grumble= Shin chuckled nervously, "It seems that I'm hungry again." "That's fine, we're going to be passing a restaurant in the direction we're going. Can you wait a little bit more?" Lee said anxiously. He took his duties very seriously, he didn't want his guest to become uncomfortable. "Nah, it's okay. I can wait a while." "Good." With that they continued to walk.  
  
"The village looks nice late at night."  
  
"Yeah, some of the shops and houses put up nice lights after dark. We like having our nights calm and soothing. Each light here signifies something different." **(4)**  
  
"Really? What does that mean"  
  
"That light is for peaceful dreams. The one next to it signifies soothing dreams"  
  
"Oh! And the one over that shop over there?"  
  
"That one's nice. It's for strength to fulfill your dreams"  
  
"I'm noticing a trend here."  
  
Lee laughed, "This particular street tends to put up lights for dreams every few weeks. You're lucky to see this. Any other time, the lights wouldn't be as coordinated. It creates a different mood around here."  
  
"Yeah, I feel the calm here tonight. Ano sa, ano sa, is that the restaurant you were talking about?" Shin paused when Lee abruptly turned his head toward him. "What? What is it?"  
  
"Nothing, sorry, you just reminded me of someone for a second."  
  
A wave of deja vu washed over Shin. "You know, I'm starting to get really annoyed. You're the third person today who thought I seemed like someone."  
  
Lee's mood seemed to dim at that statement, "Sorry about that, it's just the person you remind us about...was very important to us."  
  
"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I didn't understand. Want to talk about it?"  
  
"It's okay, like Sakura said, it's been five years. We should probably stop thinking about it. Anyway, that's the restaurant I was talking about. Let's go! They have really good sushi there!"  
  
Slightly puzzled by Lee's change in mood, Shin shrugged it off and put the thought away for another day. For right now, he was hungry.  
  
======  
  
An hour later, with yet another full stomach, the two leisurely walked back toward Lee's house. It seemed that Lee's house was near the middle of the village. Since they had eaten at the edge of the town, they had a long way to walk before they reached the beds that were crying out their names. They walked in silence, taking in their surroundings and the patterns the lights created.  
  
[[Onee-chan, are you there?]]  
  
I'm right here otouto. What do you think of the village?  
  
[[I like it, it's really peaceful here. And the people here are nice.]]  
  
They are. But have you noticed anything about the village and it's people?  
  
[[They're...gloomy. Not as much as it seemed when I first came here, but it's... hard to explain. I can't really say that they're a sad people, more like there's...something missing that they don't really realize. Something small, though, not something like a great leader or the village's friend more like...]]  
  
A person who holds the heart of the village?  
  
[[No, it's not that...it's something more subtle.]]  
  
If you say so otouto.  
  
[[You seem to be saying that a lot today.]]  
  
=giggle= Well, today is a day full of unknowns, even I didn't know things would turn out this way. I'll see you later. Take care.  
  
[[Ja ne, onee-chan.]]  
  
Shin turned his head toward Lee, apparently, he had been trying to get Shin's attention.  
  
"What do you think of the town so far?" 'Whoa, deja vu' Shin chuckled and shook his head when Lee looked at him curiously. "It's been nice. I had a good time walking around the village. The people here are...different."  
  
"But in a good way, right?"  
  
"Oh, definitely! It's just that I haven't been around such a versatile crowd. There's so many different personalities and you're all so relaxed with each other."  
  
"We've been though a lot. We're a pretty tight-knit village here in Konohagakure. Look, we're here! I want to show you around the house before we go to bed, just in case you need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night."  
  
Lee took out his key and opened the door into a short hallway. He showed Shin the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom and what seemed to be a training room with tatami mats covering everything except the ceiling. He gave a short story about each room, most having to do with his team and something funny that happened to each. They went up the steps and he showed him the three bedrooms and the bathroom.** (5)  
**  
Then came the inevitable question, "Where's your parents?"  
  
At that inquiry, Lee's bubbly mood seemed to diminish even further and he simply said, "They're uh...not here." **(6)**  
  
"Oh. Well, I'll see you tomorrow then?"  
  
"Yeah, have a good night's sleep."  
  
"You too."  
  
The two teenagers went into their own bedrooms and each collapsed on their beds. The last thing on both their minds were, 'What's going to happen tomorrow?' It was an interesting and exciting day, one of introductions and unknown to all, one of reintroductions.  
  
To be continued in _Chapter Three: And You Are?  
_  
=====

**(1)** The reason that a random girl's name came up was because I needed Shin a way to realize that Neji and Lee were sort of together without actually verbalizing it. It's not important but the story that my mind just conjured up behind this is that Akari was a girl Shin met in his travels. She had a really huge crush on him and she was pretty vicious. She wouldn't let other girls near him and she would always blush when he was there. Pointing out her name was sort of a way to show the relationship between Neji and Lee.  
  
**(2)** Some of you may have noticed that I switched from Kakashi-san to Kakashi-sempai. =blank look= I said, some of you =even more blank looks= Well, now you noticed. The insult here is very subtle. I tried to play off of the fact that the -san held more respect, it's usually given to someone either older than you or much more respectable, although not in the -sama realm yet. The -sempai honorific shows more that you admit that the person knows more and is slightly older. The insult here is really just that in that short amount of time, Kakashi got demoted an honorific. It might not make much sense, but eh, whatever.  
  
**(3)** Here, I made Shin call Yuri flower-sama. I was referring to her bringing him flowers. The honorific that Shin gives Yuri, (flower) -sama, is more of a way to sweet talk to a little girl, than really saying that she's better than him. And it makes a girl happy to be referred this way. Well, at that age, anyway, makes 'em feel important.  
  
**(4)** I just made this whole thing up, it's something I pulled out of my behind. However, if anyone actually knows something like this, tell me. It's nice to learn new stuff.  
  
**(5)** I might plan to make short stories out of this. Although there's a high chance I'm going to slip in Neji/Lee if I do. I'm not too sure. They should be humor stories, but it won't have anything to do with this story. If anyone wants to see it, drop a note.  
  
**(6)** This is Na Hoku's (Seito and I) way of avoiding the question of where Lee's parents are. Someone tell us?!  
  
La/=/er: **Um...I was delirious from hunger when I wrote most of this chapter.** So the things I referred to in my notes are things that I wrote while in the peak of my deliriousness. As you can see in this chapter Neji/Lee came up a bit. Speaking of their relationship. Seito and I decided on something.** Since Seito only really tolerates the set pairings, Neji/Lee and KakaIru, any reference to them is most likely going to be in my chapters. Thus, they won't be a huge deal in here. Just as a side thing that I could always fall back on if I hit a road block.** I'm going to see if I could change her opinion though. Anyone wanna help?  
  
Seito: There's nothing wrong with the pairings, I just don't really think about them. Nor do I see the connections. Anyway the other question, **the issue of whether or not Shin can perform jutsus won't come up for some time.** Right now, we're just establishing the whole story setting and stuff.  
  
La/=/er: I thought you were still hiding from Seika?  
  
Seito: Not anymore. =points to a cage= That's where she's going if I see her. I'm not running anymore. **I'll see you guys next chapter!**  
  
La/=/er: So yeah, that was my first chapter ever. I hope you enjoyed! I'm saying this for the first time ever, **please click on the happy little button down there that says go. It will lead you to a window in which you can comment on our story. I accept bashing of my chapters** (don't do it to Seito tho, if you do, I'll come after you)** as long as they make sense, to most people in the world.**  
  
**Review! And have a wonderful day!** /=snicker= You are so corny/  
  
Written: 6/27/04 - 6/29/04 (You see what I did for you guys? Started the day the first chapter was posted and worked non-stop on the 29th. I wrote the beginning stuff on the 27th and 28th)


	3. And you are?

**Mesa no own Naruto** (I have a good disclaimer? Funny all it is is four words and I say it all the time. Mesa sleepy.) **Important stuff bolded.**  
  
Seito: =is currently dead=  
  
La/=/er: =pops up from nowhere= Seika!!! You didn't!!!!  
  
Seika: Nope. PE  
  
La/=/er: Oh. Can you get her up? She can't die now! She still has to finish KWWHNSNT and this story. SHE CAN'T DIE!!!  
  
Seika: Err... Actually I wouldn't mind if she doesn't finish KWWHNSNT. (La/=/er: =glare=) Waking her up. =WHACK!!!!!!!=  
  
Seito: OW!!!! Seika!!!! That's three times today!!!!!  
  
Seika: Serves you right. Blame your co-writer. She wanted you up.  
  
Seito: =whines= La/=/er couldn't you have let me died in peace. PE is killing me. Did someone dig my grave yet?  
  
La/=/er: It can't be that bad.  
  
Seito: 5 and a half hours of torture and you call that not bad? (La/=/er: Actually I pity you.) =Sarcastically= Geeze thanks. I envy you. (La/=/er: =smile=) Wow, 31 reviews... Might as well answer those reviews. Umm... Can I just say thank you for the reviews and enjoy the chapter?  
  
Seika: =Whack!!!!!=  
  
Seito: Ow!!!!  
  
Seika: Just answer the stupid reviews. =mutter= I have an idiot creator.  
  
**_Dark Mimiru-Chan_**  
  
Thank you and enjoy chapter. (Can I go to sleep yet? Seika/La/=/er: NO!!!)  
  
**_V G Jekyll_**  
  
YAY!!! Nothing to criticizes. That's a good sign right? Thank you for the review and enjoy the story.  
  
**_Maboroshi-hime  
_**  
Umm... (currently confused for some odd reason) Thank you and enjoy? (Seika: Once again I have an idiot creator. =Whack!!!=) OW!!!! SEIKA!!!!  
  
**_Lostlily_**  
  
Stuck it in a bottle? Oh dear. That's not good for Shin. Thank you and enjoy the chapter. (=mumbling= stuck in a bottle? Never would have thought of that)  
  
**_Kisu_**  
  
I would explain why Shin doesn't get hot, but that would ruin the story. (Yes there's an actual reason to why Shin doesn't get hot) But let's just say that he'll survive. It's only a little heat. Umm... the Lee seeing Shin's face, well dunno if that will happen. If it does then it does, if not it doesn't. So yeah. I have no idea.  
  
**_Someone_**  
  
That's an interesting way to sign your review. Lol Um yeah thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter. (Why am I replying to every single review? Seika: Just hurry up. La/=/er: Agreed)  
  
**_Ghostninja85_**  
  
Ummm... La/=/er will answer your question in the next chapter. (La/=/er: Why are you asking me? You should know!) Umm... (Seika: She's just lazy. She hasn't sat down and thought about the answer or talking to La/=/er about it.) Hehehe Okay So I have no idea what the answer to the question about Akamaru and Naruto's charka. =sweatdrop= yes I haven't given much thought to it. I'll get back to you on that one if La/=/er doesn't. Sorry.  
And why does everyone think that voice that Shin is always speaking to is Kyuubi? I guess that works. (Never would have thought of that) but the voice will be revealed in this chapter, sort of. Thank you for the review and enjoy.  
  
**_Kutsu_**  
  
=blink, blink= Okay I'm too tired to make sure if you make sense in your review. So I'm going to save myself the mental strain and just say thank you for the review and enjoy the chapter.  
  
**_RuByMoOn17_**  
Thank you!  
  
**_Yum_**  
  
See Ghostninja85 about the Kyuubi and Mysterious Voice answer.  
  
**_Izumi  
_**  
You'll get to see Sasuke in this chapter. Once again see ghostninja85 about the question about Akamaru. (La/=/er! You're poisoning me. Your laziness is contagious!! La/=/er: I influence you greatly. Seika: Perhaps a little too much. Keep up the good work La/=/er! At this rate she won't be able to do any sort of writing at all.)  
  
**_XSTRAIGHTEGDEx_**  
We'll try!! (I can't really write any else beside Sasunaru. [Not including kakairu and neji/lee])  
  
**_Silvermist_**  
  
Thank you and enjoy the chapter.  
  
**_Weeee_**  
  
I can only write so fast! Here's the update though. (I think I've killed this chapter)  
  
**_Inferno-Dragonz  
_**  
Two reviews? Thank you. I hope you find this chapter interesting. (That means I didn't completely kill it)  
  
**_Lokisash_**  
  
You won't have to kill me. PE will do it for you. (Someone dig my grave now. La/=/er: You're not going anywhere. Seika: If she dies then she can't write any more stories, hmm... I should talk to one of those PE teachers. They need to work her hard. 5 and a half hours is too short. Seito: you're so cruel Seika. Cruel.) Yeah anyways enjoy.  
  
Seito: There done. Can I sleep now?  
  
La/=/er/Seika: NO!!  
  
Seito: T-T  
  
-----------------  
  
_Without Life_  
  
----------------  
  
**Chapter 3: And you are?**  
  
Where are you going?  
  
[[Shouldn't I be asking you that?]]  
  
You always know where I'm going. I'm asking you otouto.  
  
[[Out. For a walk. I wanna see if I can remember everything Lee told me yesterday.]]  
  
I'm sure you will.  
  
[[Onee-chan, why are you going?]]  
  
Mother wants to see me. I'll be back by this afternoon. Hopefully  
  
[[Okay.]]  
  
Be careful.  
  
[[Aren't I always?]] Shin left.  
  
Silence.  
  
... No.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------  
  
Everything is always quiet in the morning. A few birds were singing. Early risers were awakening. Storeowners began to open their shops. Restaurants and bakeries began to warm their ovens as they waited for the first group of people to arrive at their steps. The sun hung low in the sky, just having risen minutes before. The clouds were high up in the sky as the night faded away into shadows. The sweet scent of dew lingered on the grass. Everything seemed crisp and cool.  
  
Shin walked through the near empty streets of Konoha. His black cloak flapped in the gentle breeze as his scarf blew against his face. Sometimes he disliked that scarf. There were few people awake at five in the morning and those who were up, were probably up for their jobs. He had seen an elderly lady strolling by with a package of groceries. She had stopped to talk to him, remembering the rumors and stories from yesterday. Shin was more then happy to chat. Soon though, the old lady had to go. She had a busy day ahead and stories to tell. She waved goodbye to him and walked away.  
  
Now he wandered through the streets, trying to remember everything Lee had told him yesterday. (Shin remembered to leave the boy a note before he left, so that Lee wouldn't awake to a panic to find his guest gone.) Just as his sister said, he remembered most of what Lee had told him. Shin wandered through the streets as if he had been a resident for years. Besides, he liked morning strolls. It was good time to think and reflect on the day before him and the day he had just experienced hours before.  
  
Just as he passed a small grassy lot, Shin saw someone. It was the one person Shin wanted to meet, but didn't get a chance to yesterday. Wandering around not too far from him was a teenage boy with spiky bluish/blackish hair and obsidian black eyes. His hands were jammed into his pockets of his white pants. Shin saw the usual symbol on the backside of the blue shirt. It was a circle with a single white line dripping down from the bottom. The top half, shaped like a crescent moon, was red. The bottom half, which was like another circle, was white. Shin wondered what the symbol meant as he watched the boy walk around in a bit of a daze. This was the perfect chance to find out more about this Uchiha Sasuke.  
  
"Hey you!"  
  
======  
  
Sasuke had often found himself taking morning walks every so often after Naruto's disappearance. Things he didn't want to think about, things he did want to think about, all came back to him then. It was no surprise to see him wandering around at five in the morning. Sasuke liked walking around this time. It was quiet and peaceful. It allowed him to think without distractions.  
  
As he strolled past a grassy green lot, his mind wandered to yesterday, during the Chuunin Exams. That person Sasuke saw standing next to the Hokage seemed familiar somehow. But Sasuke had no idea why. Never had he seen someone with blue and red eyes before. It was very... unique. But how much different was it from his sharingan? Sasuke had spent yesterday wondering who that person was and why that person was here. It was probably the first time that Sasuke was thinking about someone else other than Naruto for the rest of the day.  
  
"Hey you!"  
  
Sasuke snapped out of his apparent daze and automatically reached for a kunai. He looked to see the person from yesterday. Sasuke relaxed. If Tsunade was okay with letting this person into Konoha, he had to trust his Hokage's decision. This did give him a chance to find out about this person.  
  
The person walked over to where Sasuke was standing. Sasuke studied him carefully. Now that he got a closer look, he was sure the person before him was a boy and about his age. If anything this teenager had some sort of basic martial arts as the boy seemed relaxed, but had his guard up. He couldn't see hair color or the bottom half of his face thanks to that scarf and cloak. But Sasuke could see the brilliant sapphire blue eyes with crimson red in them, twinkle and gleam at him. To him they were like gems that never lost their shine. Only one other person had those kind of eyes.  
  
"Uchiha Sasuke," the teenager asked.  
  
Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously. How did this boy know his name? "Yes and you are?" he asked. If Sasuke could see behind the scarf, he would have seen an sincere smile. "I'm Shin. Nice to meet you, Uchiha-san," said Shin cheerfully.  
  
So this was the boy from yesterday. Interesting. Shin could tell that Sasuke was a skilled ninja. Smart too. Not everyone would be on guard around him, which meant Sasuke was suspicious of him. To some people that would be a bad thing, but to Shin, it was a good thing because that showed that Sasuke knew he couldn't be easily trusted. I mean who would trust a guy walking around in a black cloak and tan scarf that hid his identity, without a village symbol, and carried himself like a martial artist? If they weren't suspicious of him, then Shin began to worry because that meant the person was too trusting. When it came to trust, Shin was picky about whom he trusted and whom he didn't.  
  
Silence fell over the two teenagers as they studied each other. Finally complete with his analysis of Sasuke, Shin decided to break the silence. "So why are you up so early in the morning. I thought you ninjas would sleep every possible minute you could since you're always so busy," Shin asked.  
  
Several of the words Shin just said helped Sasuke further solve who Shin was. The phrase 'You ninjas' proved that Shin wasn't a ninja. 'Always so busy' proved that Shin had a basic idea of what a ninja life was. Last was that Shin seemed to be an early riser. Then other questions began to flood Sasuke's mind. Did that mean Shin wasn't a ninja? If he wasn't ,then why is he here? Shin can't be a genin as Sasuke didn't see him at the beginning of the exam. Well, as the saying goes 'There will always be more questions than answers'. After all if we knew everything, imagine how boring life would be. What makes a human, human, is our ability to learn and adapt to new things.  
  
"Just walking," answer Sasuke in a deadpan voice. He would be friendly on a simple level, but he would never drop his guard around him. He didn't trust this guy yet; his eyes showed that.  
  
'Scary they sound alike,' thought Shin. Sasuke's deadpan voice reminded him of a certain someone. He hated when people talked like that. That kind of tone never had any life or emotions to it. Shin noticed a lot of things that didn't seem to be right yesterday. To Shin everything was dull. Nothing seemed to be alive. Even the plants, which looked healthy and green, seemed liked they were withering. It scared Shin. Who would have thought such an empty town would exist? What could have happened to change this town so drastically? It couldn't be the war. Shin had visited other places affected by the war, they seem to be alive despite all the casualties. Perhaps it was because Konoha was where the war started and the effects of that were devastating. Or it could be something else. Shin wasn't sure. On the brighter side things didn't seem all that gloomy today. Perhaps it was just an off day yesterday for the village.  
  
Sasuke's words brought Shin out of his thoughts. "You?" Shin blinked and looked towards Sasuke. "Huh?" Sasuke repeated his question. "Why are you up?"  
  
"Oh I wanted to look around. Say you don't happen to know where some kid named Rock Lee lives," asked Shin. He just happened to look around his surroundings to noticed that he was completely lost. While he was wandering he hadn't noticed which direction he was going in.  
  
Sasuke just seemed to stare at him for a moment. Then he shoved his hands back into his pockets and began to walk away. He had some thoughts to get to. Shin was about to say something when Sasuke spoke again. "Turn around, walk straight ahead for two blocks, then take a right. Follow that street until you come to Umi Street. Turn left on that street. Follow that street until you come across the house number 6875. That's Rock Lee's house." Then Sasuke disappeared around the corner.  
  
Shin blew some hot air. 'I know he told me and everything, but that was rather rude of the guy to just walk off like that. I guess he's a bit of a jerk,' thought Shin. Then he turned around and began to follow Sasuke's directions. Hopefully that Lee kid wasn't up yet and in a panic in case he hadn't found his note.  
  
======  
  
Shin managed to find his way back to Lee's house. Upon his arrival, he was greeted by a panicking Lee who hadn't noticed that he was standing there yet. "Where did he go?! Maybe he's lost or something," asked a frantic Lee. He was running around in circles. On the floor was Shin's note, forgotten. Shin picked it up and called out to his host. "Lee, what are you doing?"  
  
Lee stopped running around. "Shin," cried out Lee. "Where have you been?" Shin handed him the note. "I went out for a walk," said Shin. "I assume you didn't read my note." Lee read the note and grinned sheepishly. "Oops?" Shin crumpled up the note and tossed it into the trashcan.  
  
Then Shin saw something he didn't see yesterday when Lee showed him around the house. Nearby sat a picture frame. The picture was of Lee and another boy. Shin looked closely at the other boy. The boy that was in the picture with Lee had spiky yellow hair and sapphire blue eyes. He wore a bright orange outfit and had a big grin on his face. Except for the fact that he had red flecks in his eyes, Shin realized that he and the boy in the picture looked alike. How strange. "Lee, who is that boy," asked Shin with curiosity.  
  
Lee looked at the picture, his eyes clouding over with sadness. "His name is Uzumaki Naruto. He was a good friend of mine. Most of the people you met yesterday were all good friends of Naruto."  
  
'So this is Naruto,' thought Shin. 'I can see why everyone thought he and I were the same people. We look alike.'  
  
Then a cheerful expression, a fake cheerful expression, appeared on Lee's face as he didn't like the silence that hung through out the room. "C'mon," said Lee before Shin could say anything else. "There's one more place I have to show you. Plus there is someone there I want you to meet too." Then Lee grabbed Shin's arm and dragged the younger teenager off to see a certain schoolteacher.  
  
=====  
  
Just minutes later both Shin and Lee stood outside the ninja academy. (They saw Yuri on their way there. After saying a quick hello, the two boys continued their way to the academy.) School hadn't started yet, so many of the kids lingered around talking or playing with their friends. "Welcome to the ninja academy," said Lee. Shin's eyes widened in shock. This was a big school.  
  
Lee didn't stop there though. He continued to drag Shin into the school. After hunting through a few empty classrooms, Lee came upon the one he was looking for. Lee opened the door and walked inside with Shin right behind him.  
  
Inside the classroom behind the teacher's desk sat a man in his thirties. His brown hair was pulled into ponytail; black eyes were trained on the papers before him. Shin noticed the standard ninja outfit consisting of the Chuunin vest, blue sandals, and blue clothes underneath. 'He's probably a Chuunin,' thought Shin as he looked at the man before him. 'I didn't think they had ninjas teachers. I guess that's the best way to learn, from a professional.'  
  
"Iruka-sensei," called out Lee. The man looked up to see one of his former student and a person he never seen before.  
  
"Hello Lee. Who's your friend," asked Iruka. He gave a weak smile. Iruka was slowly recovering from Naruto's disappearance as everyone else was. So Iruka attempted to get his life back on track and to add some smiles into his life. It was time for him to get his life together. He just had to accept the fact that Naruto was gone and not coming back. Nothing could change the past, no matter how much they wanted to.  
  
"This is Shin," Lee introduced. Shin smiled and bowed. "Nice to meet you Iruka-sensei," he said politely. Iruka didn't say anything at first. The same thought that pass through Tsunade's head when she first met Shin, passed through Iruka's. 'He sounds so much like Naruto,' thought Iruka sadly.  
  
"Nice to meet you Shin," said Iruka, coming out of his thoughts. "I haven't seen you around Konoha before. Are you visiting?" Shin nodded. "I am."  
  
Iruka was about to ask why when the bell started to ring. "Oh. You better go," said Iruka. "The kids will be coming in soon and unless you want to stay for the day, you better get going or you'll be trapped here." Shin and Lee nodded and left. Iruka watched them leave. The nagging thought that he knew who Shin was hung in the back of his head for the rest of the day.  
  
======  
  
Shin wandered through the streets again. Lee went off to train with his teammates, trusting that Shin won't get himself lost (Shin: Like I get lost. Sasuke: What about this morning? Shin: ... -.-). So he was alone by himself. Perfect. This gave Shin the chance to see if he could locate that man.  
  
Sapphire blue and crimson red eyes closed. He could sense the man's aura better with his eyes closed. His senses spread out like casting a net over where he was walking. If the man was here he would not escape Shin's senses of smell, sight (reading the auras), hearing, and touch. He had been at it for several minutes when his heightened hearing picked up an interesting conversation.  
  
"Sasuke, I need your help with something."  
  
"Sakura, I don't want to do this."  
  
"You shouldn't be moping around all day."  
  
"I don't."  
  
"You do. Now I need your help with some shopping."  
  
"Sakura, your definition of shopping always spells trouble."  
  
"Oh, stop being a stick in the mud Sasuke."  
  
"..."  
  
Shin opened his eyes just in time to see Sakura drag a relenting Sasuke along. Sakura stopped as she saw Shin, causing Sasuke to run into her. Sasuke would rather be somewhere else lost in thought. Not being dragged around like a rag doll by his teammate. He didn't care what Sakura wanted to do, but Sasuke didn't want to go shopping. (Like every other male in the world, stringing the words shopping and female in the same sentence together is bad thing. Stringing the words shopping, money, your wallet, you, and female in one sentence is even worse.)  
  
"Shin," called out Sakura as she spotted the cloak-clad visitor.. Immediately she dragged Sasuke over to where Shin was standing. "Konnichiwa Sakura-san," said Shin. He remembered the pink haired girl from yesterday quite well. Sakura smiled falsely. Shin didn't miss it. 'She's also like that. Lee said most of the people I met were close friends with that Naruto guy. What could have happened that it made everyone so sad? What kind of impact did this Naruto person have on the town,' Shin asked himself. How interesting...  
  
"Oh. Have you met Sasuke-kun yet," asked Sakura. Shin smiled behind his scarf. He spoke since Sasuke made no qualms of telling, "We had the pleasure of meeting early this morning," said Shin. Sasuke didn't meet his eyes, lost in thought once more. Shin sweatdropped. Was Sasuke always like this?  
  
Then Sakura just noticed something. Standing right next to her was two teenager boys. She had a pocket full of money. Sakura knew she was going to need help carrying home all of her stuff. Sakura genuinely smiled. After all, they say the most spirit-lifting thing for a girl is to do a bit of shopping. Before either boy could protest, much less say a word, she had dragged them off to the nearest store.  
  
=====  
  
Shin collapse onto his bed. Mental note: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER go shopping with any girl again. The only good thing that came out of him going shopping was that Shin got another chance to talk to Sasuke.  
  
=Flashback=  
  
"Is she always like this," Shin asked. Sasuke peered out from behind the stack of boxes that he was carrying for Sakura. "I suppose," he said plainly. "I guess having a girlfriend sucks sometimes," commented Shin. He was under the expression that Sasuke and Sakura were boyfriend/girlfriend. (Sakura: =blink, blink= Ino: =blink, blink= Naruto: What?! Sasuke: Change that now Seito or I will kill you. Naruto: ditto. Seito: hehehe =Sweatdrop=) Sasuke glared at Shin with a death glare that would have killed Shin had it been a weapon. Sasuke said as calmly as he could yet still in a dangerous tone, "She is not my girlfriend. She never has and never will be. Besides, she likes someone else." Shin took a nervous step back. He didn't meant to offend anyone. Boy, Sasuke reminded of his onee- chan sometimes.  
  
=Somewhere=  
  
"ACHOO!"  
  
=End of Flashback=  
  
'So, Sasuke is single. Strange, it looked like a lot of girls like him. Maybe he doesn't like any of them,' thought Shin. He thought about the people he had met yesterday and today. This was a very interesting town. That was an interesting memory.  
  
Shin scowled a bit. [[Will you stop looking into my memories?!]] Damnit! Why did she have to have a bad habit like that one?  
  
I see what I want to see, otouto.  
  
[[Onee-chan!!!]]  
  
Laughter just rang in Shin's head. He sighed. His sister could be so stubborn sometimes. That was the last thing he wanted her doing, going through his memories without his permission. He was going to have to talk to her about that one day. [[Just show yourself please. I like to talk to you physically if you don't mind.]] The laughter stopped.  
  
Very Well.  
  
There was a shimmer of light before Shin and a gust of wind suddenly blew through the room. Suddenly there was a girl standing before him. She had long sun kissed brown hair and amethyst eyes;. Her pale blue dress swayed in the wind as her wings beat. While she was shorter then Shin now, she hovered a few inches off the ground making it seem like she was the taller one. She didn't look that much older than Shin, but he knew better. "Why that form," he asked. The girl's feet touch the ground, her wings disappearing as she willed them away. "Just because," she answered plainly. "Besides, I like this form."  
  
Shin opened his mouth to say something when Lee unexpectedly burst into the room. The girl just stared at Lee, momentarily forgetting that she could be seen. Shin was too speechless to remind her. "Dinner is ready," said Lee. He then noticed the girl in the room. Almost immediately he dropped into a ready stance just in case the girl attacked or did something funny. Lee didn't know who the girl was or how she got in here, but she didn't belong in here. "Who are you," Lee asked.  
  
The girl blinked and looked at Shin. She didn't understand. Was thick eyebrows talking to her? Shin sighed and said, "You are so forgetful. He can see you remember?" The girl's mouth formed an O shape.  
  
"Shin, do you know who this is," asked Lee. His eyes were trained on the girl before him; his guard never dropping. Shin nodded. "Yeah I do, Lee. Relax. She isn't even real." Shin swiped his hand through the girl as if she wasn't even there.  
  
You are so lucky that I am able to do illusions.  
  
"See just an illusion," said Shin. He hoped that Lee would buy a crazy idea like this. He didn't want to explain anything, but he didn't want to lie to Lee either. "Wait a minute. How are you able to do that? You're not a ninja, right," asked Lee. The idea would have sounded convincing if Shin was a ninja.  
  
Shin grinned behind his scarf. "I'm no ninja. This is just something I saw one day. I've been perfecting it since. Isn't it convincing?" Lee stared at the girl. Not entirely convinced yet. "But... that doesn't make sense. You shouldn't be able to do that. Not unless you had some sort of training in genjutsu."  
  
Shin was starting to sweat buckets. Lee was definitely smarter then he looked. How was he going to explain this one? "Ummmmm..." said Shin nervously. He was running out of ideas here. [[A little help Onee-chan.]]  
  
You could just tell him the truth. Or...  
  
Shin didn't listen to her after that. A brilliant idea just hit him. He just hoped Lee would buy it. "Fine, Lee listen up. I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell you this, but you might want to take a seat." Lee did that. "Okay. Now Lee don't go telling other people about this." Lee nodded. "The girl you see is my guardian angel."  
  
Standing behind Lee, the girl practically fell over. As she stood back up her expression said 'I'm-your-WHAT?!!!!' Shin didn't say anything, but shot her a look, telling her to be quiet. The girl just glared at him. "Your guardian angel," Lee repeated, not really believing what he just heard. Shin nodded.  
  
"Yeah. Normally you can't see, her but she's there," said Shin. What he was saying was partly true. Lee just stared in shock. "But if she's angel, shouldn't she have wings." Shin pointed to behind him. Lee turned around to see the girl floating in midair on a pair of white feathery bird-like wings. What it just him or did her hair and eye color change? Lee could have sworn that the girl had brown hair and purple eyes but the girl behind him had white hair and blue eyes. How strange.  
  
"Umm... okay," said Lee. He was still in shocked. Who would have thought, a guardian angel?  
  
====  
  
"What do you want Kakashi?"  
  
Kakashi walked into the paper filled office. Somewhere behind the tall stacks of paper and in front of her desk, sat Tsunade reading the document before her. Kakashi noticed that Tsunade was sitting quietly humming to herself as she continued to read. 'Since when does she hum when she's working? I thought she hated paper work,' thought Kakashi. For reasons unknown to him, Tsunade was humming as she worked. What a strange and peculiar sight.  
  
"About that boy Shin," started Kakashi looking for the right words to say. "He looks a lot like Naruto, right," finished Tsunade for him. Kakashi nodded. "Could it be that Shin is Naruto," he asked. Tsunade looked up from her paper work. She didn't say anything at first.  
  
"It's not my place to say. It could be that Shin is Naruto or it could just be that Shin just looks a lot like Naruto. I have no idea," said Tsunade. "But I have a feeling that Shin just may be Naruto. But I can't be sure." Kakashi nodded. He understood... partly. So there was a chance that Shin was Naruto. Kakashi silently hoped that Shin was Naruto, but it didn't explain the change in behavior and why Shin hasn't said anything. If Shin was Naruto, then why the charade? Kakashi was left with even more unanswered questions than before. Who was Shin?  
  
========  
  
Lee sat up in bed. After dinner Shin explained to him about his 'guardian angel'. It was a bit confusing, but Lee got it after a few tries. 'I feel like I'm forgetting something,' thought Lee to himself. Deciding to forget about it, he brushed the thought aside and fell asleep.  
  
========  
  
You could just erase his memory of me.  
  
"And what? I don't want to do that to anyone. I of all people should know what it is like to lose your memory, even if it's a small bit."  
  
Still... It is a big risk for him to even know I exist. If he catches wind of this, he'll use the boy against you. Do you want history to repeat itself again?  
  
"No. But..."  
  
But what?  
  
"I feel like I can trust Lee. Not just Lee, almost everyone I've met in this town so far. There's something different about this place."  
  
... You're learning and moving on. You'll recover your memory one day Shin.  
  
"Maybe. I don't even know if he's here."  
  
You'll never know. You didn't have to tell him I was your guardian angel. I'm not a guardian and certainly not an angel.  
  
"True. But you are a guardian. You've been there for me since we met. You're still an angel in different, unexplainable way. Besides..." Shin trailed off and turned around. His sister was floating there on her wings, sitting in midair. A ghostly smile played on her lips. Her amethyst eyes gleamed mischievously. Shin finished his sentence, "What else could I have told him... Hotaru."  
  
------------------------------------------------  
  
Seito: I have completely murdered this chapter. It doesn't really flow all that nicely. This isn't my best work. The chapter is short too. See! This is what happens when you write when you're half dead and have no inspiration. Yes **so warning I have lost all inspiration. Even if La/=/er manages to come out with chapter 4 tomorrow don't expect to see chapter 5 any time soon!  
**  
Seika: Yes. No inspiration means she can't write. No writing means no chapters and no chapters mean no update. No update means no more torture for me.  
  
La/=/er: You're not only one who's stumped.  
  
Seito: Sigh. Oh and La/=/er? (La/=/er: Yes?) I can write Kakairu and Neji/Lee. I like those pairings. It's the Sakura/Ino that I'm not too fond of. That one I can't not write so I'll let you handle that pairing but I'm fine with the Kakairu and Neji/Lee. I'll even help you write those two pairing.  
  
La/=/er: So I don't need to change your opinion?  
  
Seito: Would I be writing those two pairings in KWWHNSNT if I didn't like them? **Yes Neji/Lee and Kakairu will also appear in my chapters (if and when I get to them). But Sakura/Ino will only show up in La/=/er's chapter because I have no idea how to write that pairing.** I hope I covered everything.  
  
La/=/er: **My turn next.**  
  
Seito: **Please Review!! But don't flames for my chapters please.** (Now can mesa go sleep? La/=/er: I guess. Seito: Good because it's midnight. [actually passed it]) 


	4. The Missing Essentials

Disclaimer- I wonder how this started...Well, as you know I do not own Naruto nor anything related to it...I don't even have plushies or wait...okay, I have one Naruto poster. Needless to say, I don't have enough money to own Naruto.  
  
**As always, important stuff is bolded.**  
  
La/=/er- Hum...I don't think I have much to say...except, I met my deadline! Whee! I actually could've been done a couple of days ago, but inspiration only came when I rode the train...  
  
Seito- She writes a lot on the train now. I wanna ride on a train.  
  
La/=/er- As I already told you, riding at rush hours are horrible though. =shudder=  
  
Seito- True, I've heard the horror stories.  
  
La/=/er- Yeah, anyways, so I could've been done on like Saturday, but I never got the urge to actually type up what I had, thus, the chapter came only today. And even though I met my self-imposed deadline, **I might still be writing one of the Neji/Lee fics I said I was going to write in chapter two within the next couple of days.** I got distracted today, so I couldn't write on the train...  
  
**There will be a little tiny mini-poll concerning the pairing Ino/Sakura at the end, so remember to check it out.**  
  
**Review Responses:**  
  
**_Kutsu-_** Okay, so it wasn't that soon, but it's here. Enjoy!  
  
**_Yum-_** From what we gathered, the chapter was bizarre because Seito had no inspiration...and we were bizarre people in the first place. About Hotaru, you'll have to wait, she doesn't play that big a role for another couple of chapters. And what about chapter 4?! =sniff= Yum doesn't like The La/=/er, she only likes Seito...  
  
**_ghostninja85-_** Yes, that's right, _Shin's_ sister will be explained. And lookie that! It's the next chapter! And I wanted to tell you that a lot of this chapter was written from the reviews you gave, it also matched with **_izumi's_** so I combined the two and you've got this chapter. And Seito said I was going to answer it anyway, although at that time, she didn't realize I was really going to...I didn't realize either =sweatdrop=  
  
**_Lostlily-_** I'm sure Seito would've had something brilliant to say to that, but you're stuck with me. And you'll find that I did relax and let the words come...on the train. So there's bound to be something weird. So I finished my chapter - and Seito should be starting hers, right? Seito- Erm...of course! - when are you going to update yours? Zelda and bottles...huh, I think I need to play more games. And I think Seito found the bottle comment to be funny, so don't apologize.  
  
**_Night-Owl123-_** Yes, I think it's well-written too, lol. Again, not so soon, but it's here...  
  
**_Yasai-chan-_** Ooo, that was a good review. Don't you think so Seito? Seito- Definitely a good one, say the opposite to make the compliment even better. Anyway, as you will see, this doesn't start immediately after the last chapter, but Seito should be doing something about it...  
  
**_izumi-_** I laugh! You don't get to understand! ... =silence= Alright, alright, I'm sorry, but I couldn't do much on Hotaru, Seito will. And you'll be happy to know that your last review inspired half of this chapter, along with a couple of other people.  
  
**There is a section that starts with a bolded sentence. The note connected to it is the really condensed version pf the things in between the first and last bolded sentence. This is because what I wrote in there was sorta dragged out. So if you want to speed up, refer to note (1) when you see the bold.**  
  
I don't think there's anything else...so what are you waiting for? There's no more bolded words. **Scroll!**  
  
-----------------

Without Life

-----------------

**Chapter IV- The Missing Essentials**  
  
A bark, whine, a growl, a whimper, a grumble, and a yelp. These were the sounds that Shin heard while passing by the Inuzuka house.  
  
A few days had passed since Lee's encounter of Hotaru. Thankfully, Lee refrained from speaking of her to Shin; although the looks he received were enough to say it all. The last few days were nerve-wracking, he had to make sure not to blank out and speak to Hotaru as he normally did. Of course that was quite hard. It's not every morning that you wake up to find a girl floating in midair in your kitchen.  
  
Watching his actions had become second nature for him the past years, but with the feeling of comfort this village pressed into him, he had relaxed. However, after a while, even the looks stopped and he continued to search for the man in the city. The man that took away his memories and the man that was the enemy of Hotaru- she who was th...  
  
Before he could finish his thought, a door was slammed open. Shin looked up, only to realize that he had stalled in front of the Inuzuka house. And coming out of the house, running at top speed towards him, was Akamaru and following closely behind, Kiba.  
  
"Akamaru! Where are you going?" were the words that came out of Kiba's mouth before...  
  
BAM!!  
  
Shin flailed his arms in attempt to stay upright, but eventually gave up and lost the fight to fall on the ground with Akamaru on top of him. With just as much ferocity as he had when he slammed into him, Akamaru began to sniff him. He started around his hair, pushing the cloak's cover away from Shin's head. Frantically, Shin moved his arms and stilled the cover. By that time, Akamaru had moved lower, now sniffing at his neck, down that long expanse of slightly tanned skin. He continued, sniffing over the broad shoulders, moving down to a chest that was well defined, even with the clothes.  
  
Seeming to be searching for something and still being unable to find it, Akamaru continued sniffing a downward path. Meanwhile, Kiba was watching this with, at first, bewildered eyes, but soon after, he became amused and simply watched the show that was playing out in front of him.  
  
With Akamaru continuing to shuffle down, Shin's eyes widened as he looked and found Akamaru sniffing his crotch. At this time, there were two options, three if you think hard enough. One option was to quickly shove the dog away; after all, a dog sniffing your crotch is not the most comfortable experience. But Shin knew that in his panic, or rather embarrassment, he would shove Akamaru too hard and bring down the wrath of a mad dog-owner- Kiba. The other option was to simply lie there and wait for it to end. And of course, to blush furiously while he waited. Poor Shin did not realize that years of growing up with Kiba would allow Akamaru to gain the reflexes that would be fast enough to protect himself should he be shoved. He had many years of experience play-fighting and even real fighting to handle a shove- thank you very much.

* * *

/2nd POV, your POV, be prepared, be afraid./-/insane and evil cackle/  
  
There's most likely a number of people looking slightly amused, yet, not really, because it's not really that funny. But now, to fill up some space in this chapter, imagine yourself in Shin's shoes. No! Not actually in Shin's shoes, silly! Imagine you were an innocent boy merely peacefully walking to the training field to...well, to train. Distracted by the thoughts of the events, which occurred several days ago, you stop, unknowingly, in front of the house where the youngest dog had been acting weird for, coincidently, several days.  
  
Suddenly, there's a loud noise of a door opening and most likely slamming into the wall behind. Out comes a rapidly running, rather ferocious looking dog followed by what appeared to be its owner. You look up, because that's what people do when they hear loud noises, and see the said dog running straight at you.  
  
At this point, it would've been a smart idea to move out of the way. Most of you, I'm sure, wouldn't be able to, seeing such a fast dog running towards you causes you to pause...for a long time. However, while you still having the ability to move, you don't. Why? A person may ask. Simple, you've had a few years of plain (as in no jutsus involved) martial arts training under your belt and you've gotten yourself out of situations worse than this. So you think, what can a dog like that do?  
  
You find the answer a moment later when you find yourself falling as a result of the moving mass that ran straight towards you. And you fall hard, 'shock running throughout your whole system' hard. As soon as the shock wears off, you concentrate only to realize that your hood was falling off, the cover that is the only thing keeping everyone from seeing your face, because you know you have to hide it. The only thing that is protecting you from the man you are looking for from recognition. (AN-Did anyone else just get confused?) Well, that and your scarf.  
  
Thankfully, you regain enough of your senses to raise your arms and keep it from falling off and revealing the top part of your head to the owner of the dog. The only person around and the person that doesn't seem to want to help you. Sighing with relief, in your head, you just barely notice that the same dog that's been on you for the past few minutes, had moved away from your head and continued to sniff down your body. First, he sniffs around your scarf, nudging it away to sniff your neck. Tickles a bit, no?  
  
With added strength, he moves down to your shoulders, all around your chest and reaches your stomach. Here, he seems to rest a bit, sniffing around slightly slower, but with more intensity. Now you're getting breathless. Let's face it; whether or not you're ticklish, something sniffing around that area is bound to do something to you.  
  
Then, horror upon horrors, you find the dog moving past your stomach and reaching your most private parts (although that can be debated). Your crotch. As we all know, as a male, your crotch is just about the most sensitive part of your body. You can feel the cold nose and the hot breath. You can hear the slight panting from the dog that came as a result from too much intake and not enough outtake of air. You can smell that musky scent that just about every dog has on you.  
  
Worst of all, when you look down...er, across your body, you can see the dog stuffing it's nose into your crotch. At this point, it's safe to say that most of you are traumatized. But of course, we're not here to talk about you; we're here to read about Shin. And so end's the interlude, which took up the space of about a page. But before we really end, before you think, thank god, 'I only felt it with my sense of touch, sound, smell and sight', the dog decides to fill all five physical senses a person has with his presence and gives you a nice long lick right across your parted lips.  
  
/insane grin/-/insane chuckle/-/Aren't you traumatized now? Unless you've got a crappy imagination...in which case, read more things will ya?/

* * *

Still furiously blushing - and silently reprimanding himself for being 17 and blushing in a situation like this - Shin was caught unaware when Akamaru finished sniffing his crotch and slowly crawled up his body. Apparently, he was still so traumatized that when Akamaru had somehow patted away his scarf, he shrieked like a girl as Akamaru swiped his tongue across Shin's mouth. Not a good idea. Since Akamaru had already been panting, there was a copious amount of saliva. And when Shin fully parted his lips to shriek-- drip, drop, drip. Shin was introduced to the taste of a dog's kiss.  
  
Suddenly, bursts of laughter were heard from the house. Swiveling his head sharply - in actuality, rather slowly since he was still on the ground - he glared at the laughing teenager. Desperately spitting out all the liquid in his mouth, he spoke, or for the lack of a better verb, barked,  
  
"Inuzuka Kiba! Why didn't you help me? This isn't the way you treat all your guest of Konoha, is it?"  
  
Caught between being amused and feeling indignant, Kiba merely rose an eyebrow and said haughtily "I though that since you didn't push Akamaru away, you didn't mind," he paused, smiling "Besides, with all your blushing, you seem like you enjoyed it." Here, Kiba couldn't resist and snickered before walking over to Shin and picking Akamaru up.  
  
As Kiba bent down, his eyes widened. Shin looked at him curiously before his own eyes grew and he silently cursed. Quickly pushing Akamaru off, he fumbled to replace his scarf over his face, As he did so, Kiba knelt down and quietly spoke to Akamaru. Shin looked over to them, puzzled. Kiba was speaking to Akamaru normally as if he understood what Akamaru said. It seemed that Akamaru understood Kiba as well. Several times, they looked over to Shin and several times, Shin looked down and continued to fasten his scarf. It didn't seem to be working.  
  
Abruptly, Kiba stood up with Akamaru by his side. "Follow me, you can clean up in our bathroom."  
  
Wondering why he would need to clean himself, Shin looked down - or rather across, since for some reason, he was still lying down - and grimaced. With all that was happening, he never realized that Akamaru had tread mud all over him.  
  
"I was going to give him a bath before he ran out." Kiba explained.  
  
Shin stood up and tried to brush himself off. It was rather foolish of him; how do you brush off mud? Realizing what he did only got himself dirtier, he gave a frustrated sigh and glanced at Kiba. "Was that the reason for all those noises I heard when I was erm...not passing by?"  
  
Kiba seemed to grow distracted by his words and merely gave an offhanded reply.  
  
"No, he's been like that since he met you."  
  
Startled, Shin jerked before calming. "Oh" was the only reply he had.  
  
"Come on, let's go get you cleaned up."  
  
Shin followed Kiba into the house, through the rooms, up the stair and into the bathroom. While in the bathroom, trying to clean the mud off his clothes, numerous questions ran through his mind. None of them were answered when he exited the bathroom. He wandered over the house, trying to find the living room. As he walked around, the smell of dogs assaulted his senses. Pictures of various couples, a human and a dog, appeared every once in a while. In most of the pictures, the human usually had some type of marking on their face, similar to Kiba's red triangular markings.  
  
After some time, he arrived at the living room to find Kiba drying Akamaru. Clearing his throat to catch Kiba's attention, he said, "Thanks for letting me use to bathroom. Sorry to intrude. I'll leave now."  
  
Kiba looked at him with the same distracted glance as before when he shook his head and replied, "If it's alright with you, can you stay here for a bit. There are...a few questions I want to ask you."  
  
Hesitantly, Shin nodded and carefully sat on one of the many armchairs in the room.  
  
Laughing, Kiba said, "You don't have to worry. Nether neither the furniture nor I will bite. I don't think Akamaru will either." He reached down to Akamaru, ruffling his fur. Shin smiled back. "I know. It's just...you seemed weird a moment before. I wasn't sure how to react."  
  
"Speaking of that, do you know about a boy named Naruto?"  
  
"The boy that everyone keeps comparing to me?" Shin said bitterly, "Sure, I know of him, but I don't know anything about him."  
  
**(1)"Naruto-kun grew up shunned by the village.** Only a few people were even willing to look at him neutrally, much less speak to him kindly. He never knew why the village treated him so coldly until he was twelve and just before he was able to graduate from the Academy. Those that were not present 12 years ago at that time never even knew why the was shunned. Those who did not live at the time of the Kyuubi's rampage did not know that it was sealed within a newborn babe- Naruto-kun. Most of the kids called him a monster simply because their parents thought he was one. Despite this, he persevered. He worked his damned hardest and along with his strength, he grew. The shinobi that watched him grow those few short months saw him as he was, saw him as Uzumaki Naruto, the twelve year-old genin who want all the way in the Chuunin exams. Most of the village did not see him grow..." Here, Kiba paused, looking out the window, but with a sigh, he continued his narration.  
  
"They didn't see him grow, but they felt him growing. Naruto-kun was a boy whose presence was everywhere. His constant cheer - whether it was real or not, no one knew - permeated the whole village. So while no one actively thought of Naruto-kun, he was a part of everyone's lives. The lives that he touched up close were never the same. The amazing thing is that he never truly realized what he was doing. He saw something he didn't like, or didn't think was right and he sought to change it. And many times, he succeeded. Even when he was faced with the most difficult of problems, he hung in there and prevailed."  
  
"The most difficult of problems?"  
  
"As you know, in ninja villages, those of the rookie rank, the genin, start out in groups of three and a teacher. Naruto-kun's team consisted of Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura and their teacher, Hatake Kakashi."  
  
Shin had a stunned look on his face as the names came. Kiba continued.  
  
"The dynamics of their relationship were always very weird. Sakura-chan had a crush on Sasuke. Sasuke didn't care and Naruto-kun had a crush on Sakura- chan. With Sakura-chan always trying to get Sasuke's attention and ignoring Naruto-kun, Naruto-kun and Sasuke's relationship was nor always the best. But Sakura was never really important in the big picture. It was always about their rivalry, one wanting to beat the other any way they can. Those of us who were friends with their team saw the effect Naruto-kun had on Sasuke. It was about the only time he reacted to anything. Staying on the same team did wonders for their relationship." Kiba laughed, thinking of all the things he had heard.  
  
"Their rivalry was as fierce as ever, but since they spent day after day together, their teamwork was magnificent. There were numerous times where one saved the other. Although Sasuke saved Naruto-kun more times than the other way around, bragging rights were always passed back and forth."  
  
"Not that this isn't very exciting," Shin said sarcastically, "But why are you telling me a..."  
  
Kiba held up a hand, "Let me finish. You need to know this and I need to get this out of my system."  
  
Shin nodded, "Go on then."  
  
"Where was I...ah, yes. They had a fierce rivalry and a strong friendship, but one thing that was always a wedge between them was Sasuke's need for revenge. A few years before they met, the Uchiha family was massacred. The only one left with the Uchiha blood was Sasuke and the one who killed them all, Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's older brother. Itachi left him alive with an ultimatum, to hate him and to someday have revenge. He followed Itachi's words. He went through life in search of the power to overcome Itachi. But the time he spent with Naruto-kun caused it to take a backseat. Unfortunately, it was still always there. A few months after the Chuunin Exams, he finally left to catch his dreams. He listened to Orochimaru's promises."  
  
"Orochimaru? The founder of the sound village?"  
  
"Yes, I'm assuming you've heard of him?"  
  
"I have, I definitely have." Shin took on a contemplating expression before he looked to Kiba, "Continue."  
  
"When Tsunade heard that Sasuke had left, she sent five of us to bring him back. Shikamaru, the only new Chuunin, Neji, Chouji, Naruto and me. The four of us dropped back in order to fight the four escorts. Naruto followed Kimimaro, who had Sasuke in a barrel. During their fight, Sasuke broke out. When Lee arrived to fight Kimimaro, Naruto left to chase after Sasuke. Lee had gotten injured in the Exams, his arm and leg broke, but with Tsunade's help, he healed. But it was not enough, in the end the sand siblings had to help the three of us that were still fighting."  
  
Kiba took a deep breath, "We were able to get back to Konoha, carrying Neji and Chouji. All of us were injured at some point, except for the sand siblings. Naruto and Sasuke returned a few days later. But we were unable to get anything out of them. The only thing Naruto would say about it was, _'I think it's time for Sasuke to place his dream in the future and to release his past.'_ Sasuke stayed in the village after that, but you could always tell that he was still bitter. And then, suddenly, one day Naruto disappeared. Nobody knew what happened, there was no sight of a fight, there was no sign of Naruto running away. He just vanished.  
  
When Sasuke heard what happened, he flew into a rage. The more destruction he caused in the village, the more the fact that Naruto was gone was driven in. Thankfully, Tsunade ordered Kakashi to take Sasuke out into the forest. When he was gone, the shinobi of the village started their search. They came up empty. Soon, the secret of the Kyuubi was told to those who were looking. By the time Sasuke returned as a different boy, our hopes were dwindling and we had to rely on each other to be able to get through the days with our full selves intact.  
  
At first, Naruto-kun leaving did quite a number on us. But as time passed, we moved on. We still missed him, but he started to become merely a memory. The village never fully recovered though, it went on with life, but since it didn't know or admit what it was missing, it couldn't move on to completely get over Naruto's disappearance.** I think that's what you were referring to yesterday when you spoke to Lee, there was a gloom over the village." (1)**  
  
Seeing Shin's bewildered glance, he answered the unspoken question, "I spoke with Lee yesterday."  
  
"Can I ask my question now?"  
  
"Why am I telling you this? I'm telling you this because when you came, the village changed. It was relaxed. It found what it was missing. I didn't completely realize for some time. Ever since he met you, Akamaru seemed confused and anxious. When I finally spoke to him today and saw your face, I knew why. He said that you were missing an essential part of your smell. Because Akamaru grew up in a shinobi house, the Inuzuka house, he is somewhat different from normal dogs. From being able to understand my family and me, he understood things a dog was not supposed to understand. He saw that you were missing something and for some reason, he felt sad for you. He didn't understand it himself, he only knew he wanted to help.  
  
And today, I finally know why."  
  
Shin looked at him (yet again) and said, "Don't tell me, I'm Naruto."  
  
"Yes and no."  
  
Shin looked at him curiously, "Well...that's different. Would you mind explaining?"  
  
"Actually, I would mind. It's not something I can tell you, you'll have to figure it out yourself. You have to know, even I barely understand it myself and I am an outsider listening to my dog. A smart dog, but nevertheless, one that still can't fully understand how the human world works. And now I have to say explaining it to you will probably confuse you more."  
  
The two sat in contemplative silence before Kiba cried out, "Damn! I totally forgot to visit Hinata! Sorry Shin for taking up your time, but I need to go and I think its time for you to go too. Thanks for listening me ramble, I needed to get my thoughts out."  
  
"No problem, I learned a lot today."  
  
They walked out the house with Akamaru following. With cheerful farewells, the two parted. An hour after the episode with Shin, Akamaru and the hard unforgiving ground, Shin returned on his path to the training field and Kiba went to see his girlfriend.

* * *

Shin began to walk slowly towards the training field. Turning, he waved good-bye to Kiba before returning to his original position. As he continued to walk, his thoughts began to wander.  
  
The story Kiba told him was interesting if nothing else. But it was also gratifying to finally learn of the boy everyone thought he seemed like. Still, Kiba's cryptic answer seemed unlike him and he wondered if there was a deeper mystery to it all.  
  
When he arrived at the field, he looked up only to find a dark haired boy training alone. Shin cocked his head in curiosity; the boy seemed familiar somehow. He walked up near the boy, taking sure to remain a safe distance away and called out.  
  
"Excuse me. I was coming here looking to train. And I see you've got the same idea, so I was wondering if you wanted to spar?"  
  
All remained quiet at the field. Except for the sounds of nature, there was only the noise of the boy hitting against the tree. Saddened, Shin's shoulders slumped before he stood straight again and plastered a smile on his face.  
  
Raising his hand to scratch his head in a manner, which anybody in Konoha would've recognized, Shin began to speak, "Well, I guess you don't want to spar. That's okay! I'll just leave now..."  
  
Turning slowly, the boy in front of him finally replied, "I never said I didn't want to spar."  
  
"But you didn't say you did either...aah! It's you!"  
  
With a chuckle, the boy in front of him said, "Were you expecting somebody else?"  
  
"No...I just didn't expect you."  
  
"You haven't been here long, so I guess you wouldn't know that I train here a few times a week at this time."  
  
Shin just shrugged, "So you haven't answered my question, do you want spar?"  
  
"Sure." The boy shrugged as well and Shin got the distinct feeling that he only started doing that recently.  
  
The two teenagers walked to the center of the training field and fell easily into their stances. If one was to look at them at that moment, one would immediately have their interests peaked. The two stood several feet apart, facing each other with loosely held fists.  
  
The cloaked boy stood with a relaxed stance, left foot slightly in front and right arm behind. The left hand was held in front with a flat palm. The dark haired boy merely stood with the normal martial arts stance, with arms up and fisted; legs spread diagonally.  
  
Suddenly, with a whoosh of air, the two shot towards each other, leaving dust in their wake. For a moment, there was only the sound of flesh hitting flesh and a quiet thud before the two separated once again, leaving the small dust storm in the center.  
  
Falling into a slightly tighter stance than before, the cloaked boy shot towards the other, right arm and leg stretched. The dark haired boy swerved his left arm up to block and swung his right leg towards his attacker. With a twist of his body, Shin barely avoided the kick. Hopping, he prepared to jump. As he tensed his legs, the other swiped at his legs.  
  
THUD  
  
Shin fell hard, only to back-flip and fall once again into another stance. The other boy finally took the initiative and rushed at Shin. He moved his arms to block the apparent punch before he felt the displacement of air and turned only to get kicked in his stomach.  
  
He slid back a couple of feet and said, "Good job, you got the first hit. But I'll give the last."  
  
With that, he moved into the trees and immediately disappeared. The remaining boy scanned the surrounding forest with his eyes. With a slight feeling of shock running through his system, he realized he was unable to see even a speck of chakra. An unnatural rustle indicated that Shin was up above, but that would require at least a minimal amount of chakra.  
  
He moved closer to the trees, leaving the center yards away. He scanned the trees again and moved his hands to release his bloodline.  
  
Before he could do so, his sharp ears detected a tiny **_whomp_** and he swerved and ran towards the noise. Immediately, Shin fell from the branch he stood upon and lashed out. A right punch, a block with a high kick. The two parried and sparred to their hearts' content. With a final kick, Shin shot way to the edge of the clearing, then to the center.  
  
Soon, the dust from their movements settled and harsh breathing was heard. Within moments, the breaths calmed an Shin sprinted forward again. He took a jump and flipped over the other boy, only to have his ankle caught. The other kept a firm grip and slammed him into the ground. He pulled back to hit Shin, but was stopped by their entangled legs. Losing his balance, he landed heavily onto Shin.  
  
For long moments, the two only looked deep into each other's eyes before there was a flurry of activity.  
  
Shin locked his arms behind the other boy and squeezed. As he did this, he freed his legs and slammed his right leg to the boy's side. With a slight **_oomph_**, the boy freed himself and rolled over. Wondering how Shin was able to bend his kegs that way, the two instantly moved up and fell into another stance.  
  
Slightly favoring his left side, he shot forward and aimed a chop at Shin's shoulder. Shin moved, but just barely and the power behind the chop caused the tip of his shoulder to throb even when it had just barely brushed by.  
  
Moving his left shoulder slightly, Shin jumped and kicked while in mid-air. Almost moments too late, two hands shot up and absorbed the kick. The two simultaneously moved apart and looked at each other with calculating eyes. Seeming to arrive at similar conclusions, both boys moved their arms to bring their hands together. The dark haired boy moved and manipulated his arms to release his bloodline. They moved in the familiar hand motions of the Chinese zodiac signs.  
  
Meanwhile, Shin moved his hands in a completely different way, distorting the space around them.  
  
There was a sudden cry of surprise and Shin stopped his hands to take in the sight in front of him. He saw nothing peculiar and wondered at what caused the other boy to become startled. Looking at the other's silver eyes, he saw the surrounding exerted veins. **(2)** But having known that it was part of the boy's bloodline, he was not surprised. With concern in his voice, he spoke.  
  
"Neji-kun, what's wrong?"  
  
Rushing over to the other boy and silently declaring that the spar was over, he reached out his hand to rest on Neji's shoulder. There was a slight flinch before it became tense. As quickly as it happened, the shoulder Shin held on to relaxed again.  
  
Nevertheless, Shin took away his hand. With a nervous tone he spoke, "Neji- kun, are--are you okay?"  
  
Neji glanced at him steadily before replying, "Let's go over there," he jerked his head over to the trees, "I need to ask you something."  
  
Nodding cautiously -and wondering why he was asked so many questions today- Shin followed before starting at Neji's following words.  
  
"You can take off your cloak and scarf too. I know what you look like because of my Byakugan and there's no one else around for a long way to go. Besides, you must be getting hot."  
  
With a grimace, Shin realized it was true. Bitterly, he thought to himself, _'This is all Hotaru's fault. She just had to leave again this morning.'_  
  
Glad that he had spent time with Lee - the ahem, boyfriend of the boy in front of him - he knew that what he said was true. It was too hot to wear his outfit anymore anyways. He reached around his head to unfasten his scarf and then released the hidden clasp on his cloak.  
  
Taking it off and shaking it away from him, he paused to stare at all the dust that came off. Shaking his head, he turned to Neji to find him already sitting against a tree and drinking from a bottle of water. He then noticed that he was getting thirsty and walked, with a little bounce, up to him. "Neji-kun! Can I have some water?"  
  
Hiding an amused smile, Neji tossed the bottle up to him. Grinning happily, Shin drank most of the water before sitting down and passing the bottle back. "So, what did you want to ask me?"  
  
Deciding to go on the direct route, Neji bluntly said, "Did you know that you don't have any chakra?"  
  
"Chakra? What's that?"  
  
Neji stared at him in shock before schooling his face to a slightly less revealing expression. "Chakra is something that everything has. To not have it, is like missing a vital organ. Or rather, like missing both your kidneys. You could survive, but it makes life extremely difficult, leading to death sooner or later."  
  
"How would you know that I don't have any? Wait...does this have to do with your Gentle Fist technique?"  
  
"Yes. In order to use it successfully I need to be able to see the places where the chakra is exerted and the chakra itself. When I looked at you with my Byakugan activated...I didn't see any chakra at all. Do you know anything about it?"  
  
"Well..." Shin began to speak, but trailed off as he realized that it would not be good to reveal everything related, "My onee-chan told me that when my memories were lost, some parts of me were sealed off. But she never told me anything else."  
  
"Do you know what happened to your memories? Do you know how it was taken away?"  
  
"No..." at this point Shin decided to tell the truth, "When I first woke up, I was in the middle of a forest, I didn't remembered anything. And moments after, I blanked out again and when I woke up, I woke in onee-chan's house. She's been with me ever since."  
  
"Really?" Neji held a curious look, that didn't seem to be all that natural on his face, "then where is she now?"  
  
"She um...didn't come to the village. She said she wanted to rest a bit. We've been doing a bit of traveling." Shin chuckled nervously, "Anyway! Um...you're not going to tell anybody about the whole no chakra thing are you?"  
  
"If you don't want me too. I won't tell anyone. For now anyway. If you start feeling sick though, I want you to immediately look for me. I might be able to help if something happens."  
  
"Aw...alright, I will. Come on, let's spar again!"  
  
Neji raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you supposed to be meeting Lee and I in three minutes?"  
  
"Oh yeah! I forgot! Hey, what are you doing here then?"  
  
"I can get there in 30 seconds flat, you however, will probably need at least four minutes. It normally takes half an hour to walk from the training field to Lee's house."  
  
"Well what are we standing here talking for? I'm have to run! I'll see you in a few minutes! Wait a minute...how did you know it would only take me four minutes to get there?"  
  
In an uncharacteristic mood - not so much recently, he seemed to be a lot different the past few months - Neji said, "That's for me to know and for you to...not find out." Laughing, Neji waved goodbye and disappeared with slight move of the air and a lot of dust.  
  
With a content smile on his face, Shin laughed slightly before running and disappearing within seconds himself.  
  
To Be Continued in Chapter 5

* * *

**(1)** I realize that the stuff in between the bolded letters are somewhat repetitive to some people. Condensed version is that Kiba was telling Shin about Naruto, how he grew up shunned, but he never gave up, even when Sasuke left. And then I went on to describe a lot of stuff that isn't too important. In the end Kiba just told Shin what happened after Naruto brought back Sasuke and some months, maybe weeks later, disappeared and then the whole thing of everyone trying to get back to normal. Yeah, that's about it...  
  
**(2)** Haha! I bet you all thought it was Sasuke!  
  
Seito: I did at first but Sasuke does NOT shrug when ask to spar. Itachi: Have you considered the fact that he changed over the what 5 years? Seito: Even so. Changed or not, I really doubt Sasuke would just shrug. It's like him saying 'maybe' to training. La/=/er: What? You didn't notice that I said it seemed like something he just started doing? Tut tut Seito, I thought you read better than this. But then again...I suppose Sasuke doesn't shrug too much...And since when was Itachi here? Isn't here supposed to stay in our AIM conversations? Seito: He decided to visit.  
  
La/=/er- Some of you may be able to tell that I'm going to slip a little side plot in here. Wonder who can figure it out...? I cackle. Of course if you do figure it out and you don't like it =twiddles fingers= I suppose I could take it out. But if you don't know, tough, nyah!  
  
**Since neither Seito nor I can do Ino/Sakura very well, we are asking our readers to help us in our decision.  
  
There are several choices.  
  
1) Kick 'em out completely and have different pairings. I'll tell you the ones I like that has Ino and Sakura, not including the people already in a relationship.** Although I do like Shikamaru/Ino...  
  
**2) Leave 'em in there, it's cool with me.  
  
3) I don't really care as long as there's SasuNaru.** That would be me.  
  
**If you're one of the brilliant people in here and have another choice, you're welcome to tell us. But please, please, tell us _something_. If not, we're going to deprive you of SasuNaru.** =shakes finger at you=  
  
Seito- What?! I'm not going to do that!  
  
La/=/er- Yes you will, I make you. Or better yet, I'll sic Seika on you, or maybe Sai, or maybe Hotaru...all the choices!  
  
Seito- Alright...maybe.  
  
La/=/er- Humph, anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. **And the only thing I have to say about the interlude is that I was feeling really, really sadistic that day...  
**  
**Tell us how it was! Review! It's very simple, just click that Go button that's an inch away. And tell us about the Ino/Sakura thing. And yes, I do accept harsh criticisms of my chapters as long as they make sense and isn't prejudiced.**  
  
Written: 7/13/04-7/19/04 (I wrote like 2 pages then 3 then 1 and then like 6. All on the train. There's a day in between posting and finished because I passed it to Seito and then I edited a teensy...alright, I didn't read over it. So there's probably something wrong. Seito's good, but she's not _that_ good. _I'm_ not that good and I'm _her_ beta!) 


	5. Begin! Introduction of Kage

**Mesa no own Naruto (You know the drill everything important is bolded)  
**  
Seito: shaking La/=/er You can't be serious about depriving me of Sasunaru. I can't do anything but Sasunaru (well I can but that's not the point)!!!! Take a look at all the Naruto stories. They all have some kind of Sasunaru fluff in it. There is no way you are depriving me of Sasunaru fluff!!!!  
  
Seika: =whack!=  
  
La/=/er: .... I guess I should say thank you.  
  
Seito: Ow! There's no way you can deprive me of Sasunaru. I wouldn't be able to take it.  
  
La/=/er: You want to do the honors?  
  
Seika: Sure why not. Next time, don't mentions the words depriving (or anything similar) and Sasunaru in the same sentence. Unless you want a frantic co-writer. =whack!= Baka authoress calm down!  
  
Seito: Ow! T-T Fine be that way... Oh and I'm not going to bother answering all the reviews. Just the ones with questions or require some kind of response.  
  
**_To Kisu_**  
Yes I thought it was Sasuke at first. And no, Shin can't do jutsus. La/=/er- =sniff= That was the whole point of the meeting Neji and fighting him! To tell u he has no chakra and can't do jutsus! Does this mean I didn't do my job good...?  
  
**_To ghostninja85_**  
Shino and Sakura? Never hear of that pairing... oh well La/=/er will handle that whatever happens to Sakura and Ino. La/=/er- Haha! Unlike Seito, I have heard of the Skura/Shino pairing, from Trust Me Once Again by Shiomi right? I love that story...well a bit, I didn't read it at first because of the promised angst... I liked the other one of theirs a lot. I think I might have this pairing and then have Shika/Ino  
  
**_To Dark Mimiru-chan_**  
That 'guy' shows up in this chapter. :P  
  
**_To Lostlily_**  
Sadly I have no fighting video games and I have an old game system (PS1) so there aren't too many games I can go hunting for. Blah. Thanks for the tip though! (Seika: It doesn't matter she still can't write fighting scenes.) La/=/=er- Interestingly your response made sense to me...  
  
**_To Muchacha, Akki, Yum, and Kutsu_**  
YAY FOR SASUNARU!!!  
  
**_To izumi_**  
Okay I have to ask but what does =chus seito and laer= mean?!  
  
_**To the rest of the reviewers**_  
THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING!!!  
  
You may now enjoy the chapter.  
  
------------------------  
  
_Without Life_  
  
------------------------  
  
**Chapter V: Begin! Introduction of Kage**  
  
==============  
  
Seconds turn to minutes...

Minutes turn to hours...

Hours turn to days...

Days turn to weeks...  
  
It had been 2 weeks since Shin arrived in Konoha. He met interesting people, had fun, learned new things, and for the first time in a long time, relaxed. Of course he had a few slipups. Iruka was added onto the list of who-saw-his-face. The teacher, like everyone else, asked about him and Naruto. Shin found himself getting a bit irritated with all the questions, but understood. Though he found it slightly amusing at the thought that he REALLY was Naruto (of course he didn't believe it, just found it amusing).  
  
It was a new day. Shin had already left Lee's house. The older boy had already left by the time Shin woke up. Lee did leave a note saying the Chuunin exam was about to start again and if Shin wanted to he could go and watch. Shin smiled. Of course he wanted to see it. The exam had caught his interest from the day he arrived here. It was about time too. Two weeks to clear the sand away? How much sand did that red haired shinobi pour into the stadium in the first place?  
  
As he walked, Shin found himself recalling the mental conversation he had with his sister, the same day Neji brought up the question of him and his missing chakra. Her answer had been interesting. Shin had a feeling Hotaru wasn't telling him everything she knew.  
  
=Flashback=  
  
[[Onee-chan?]]  
  
Yes?  
  
[[Why don't I have chakra?]]  
  
Shin heard Hotaru sigh lightly.  
  
Honestly... I don't know. Whatever caused you to lose your memories, caused your body to automatically seal off your chakra.  
  
[[According to Neji-kun I would die if I didn't have chakra. Or is it because you wouldn't let me die that I haven't already.]]  
  
Shin didn't have to see his sister's face to know that she was smirking.  
  
No. You're living and breathing on your own. I have nothing to do with the reason why you're alive if that is what you're suggesting, other than saving you from that forest.  
  
[[So then why am I still alive?]]  
  
Good question. All I can say is your chakra may be sealed, but in that same process an even greater gift was unsealed.  
  
[[You mean?]]  
  
That gift is not something that mortals possess so easily.  
  
[[Oh.]]  
  
Sleep now. You have a long day tomorrow. (Seito: Hmm... If I get the chance I will write a one-shot about this... XD)  
  
[[And how would you know? You said so yourself that you don't know what the future holds.]]  
  
Hotaru merely smiled. Just a feeling  
  
=End of Flashback=  
  
As Shin headed towards the stadium, someone else was thinking about him. Already sitting in the stands of the stadium, Iruka was waiting patiently for exam to start again. However, his mind seemed to be somewhere else. Just recently he happened to see behind Shin's scarf and hood. Like those before him, it shocked him. Iruka went straight to Kakashi after.  
  
=Flashback=  
  
"Kakashi, Shin-"  
  
"Looks exactly like Naruto. I know."  
  
Iruka stared in shock for the second time today. While he could just yell at his boyfriend for not informing him, Iruka knew Kakashi didn't tell him for a reason. "So is he," asked Iruka with the slightest hint of hope in his voice.  
  
Kakashi didn't answer. He didn't meet his boyfriend's eyes either. Instead he stared out the window. It decided to rain that day. It was a brief light shower, but it still managed to give everything a light bath. As the raindrops fell, he answered, "No. Well, I don't think so. He doesn't act like Naruto and I can't recognize his chakra, it's like it's not there. The only thing that seems to connect is the fact that they look alike." There was a frustrated tone in his voice.  
  
The hope that fluttered in Iruka's heart disappeared. Kakashi didn't noticed. If he did, he didn't say anything. Silence was their only comfort.  
  
=End of Flashback=  
  
'Naruto, where are you,' wondered Iruka. He missed the boy he thought of as a little brother. Things just weren't the same without him. Then he focused his attention on the Chuunin Exam. He looked forward to see which one of his students passed this year.  
  
=========  
  
Shin arrived at the stadium sooner than he thought. "I see you came back to enjoy the show."  
  
Shin turned around, a bit startled at the voice. Standing behind him was Tsunade in her Hokage robes. Her pale green eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief, but Shin had no idea why. Shin blinked as he noticed there was someone else standing behind Tsunade.  
  
The person had long white hair and looked around the same age as Tsunade (if not only a few years older). He had black eyes and wore a green outfit with a red vest. He had a gray forehead thing that had the kanji for oil (1). There were two red lines starting from his eyes and dripping down his cheeks.  
  
Seeing Shin's curious look, Tsunade introduced her guest. "Shin, this is my former teammate and friend, Jiraiya."  
  
Shin bowed politely. "Nice to meet you Jiraiya-san."  
  
Jiraiya looked at him peculiarly. It was like he had seen Shin before, but couldn't match the face with the name. Shin didn't know why, he had never met Jiraiya before, unless... Shin nearly groaned aloud. Not someone else who thought he was Naruto. This was really getting old...  
  
Shin half expected Jiraiya to ask if he was Naruto like everyone else (even though Jiraiya couldn't see pass his scarf and hood). Instead the white haired man just said, "Nice to meet you Shin." Shin blinked for a moment before his eyes curled up into an arch and he smiled behind his scarf.  
  
Tsunade smiled and then said, "Shin why don't you go up to stadium and sit in the Hokage's box. I'll be up there in a moment."  
  
Shin stared, surprised. The Hokage just asked him to sit with her, AGAIN. He understood the first time; he was a guest and didn't know where he was going. However, to hear the Hokage ask him again...it was a rare treat. Shin bowed again and said, "Thank you," before walking off towards the stands. There was a skip of excitement in his walk.  
  
Tsunade watch him leave before turning back to her old friend. Jiraiya was also watching Shin leave. Tsunade waited patiently for Jiraiya to say something. "He looks just like him. Are you sure," asked Jiraiya, hesitantly.  
  
Tsunade gave a tired nodded. "There's no way to prove it, but I know. I just know it." Jiraiya let out a sigh. "You're reading into this too much, Tsunade-hime." He rested his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Naruto's gone." Tsunade shook her head fiercely. "No, I know he isn't. I'm sure Shin is Naruto," she mumbled. Jiraiya just merely sighed again.  
  
====  
  
Kiba strolled confidently onto the fighting ground. He had this fight in bag. His opponent was some girly-girly looking guy who was supposed to be really strong and from some really secretive country and blah-blah, blah- blah. (Sai: =twitch= girly-girly...Seito, I'm going to hurt you.)  
  
Usuyuki Sai (anyone recognize the last name?) appeared on the other side. He was a genin from the Snow Country, located at the edge of the Water Country. There, the land was always in a constant blizzard, making it hard for travelers to come and go. Because of that blizzard, it wasn't often that you see a snow shinobi.  
  
Sai had short white hair. His pale emerald eyes were sharp and cold. His hands were clenched into tight fists and one could see the knuckles through the thin fabric of the white fingerless gloves he wore. His skin was pale and around his arm was a forehead protector with the symbol of Snow Country on it. He wore a white shirt with a white sash that crossed his chest and up around his shoulder before going around his back and long white pants. (Think Hakkai from 'Saiyuki'). There was a white pouch hanging from his belt behind him and a kunai hostler was strapped around his right thigh.  
  
"Ready."  
  
Sai and Kiba merely glared at each other.  
  
"Begin!"  
  
Sai was the first to make a move. Before Kiba could even settle into a comfortable stance, Sai seemed to disappear from view. 'Where'd he go,' asked Kiba. He looked around confused. Akamaru started barking to the left of him. Kiba, trusting his dog and friend, jumped to away, narrowly missing the slice of a katana.  
  
'Where the hell did he get that sword,' thought Kiba. He would have been cut in two if Akamaru didn't start barking. Sai shifted his grip on his katana. He glanced down at the dog barking at him. 'Great, a mutt. He alerted him before I attack. It must be his sense of smell. After all, the normal human eye can't track me at the speed I'm going at,' thought Sai. Before he could continue his thoughts, Akamaru decided to attack. Sai stepped back, just missing Akamaru's bite.  
  
'Oh, so the mutt can attack too.' Sai smiled. 'Maybe this fight will be interesting after all.'  
  
===========  
  
Shin stared down before, excitement dancing in his eyes. Sai was really fast, Shin could barely keep with his movements. If it wasn't for his training with Hotaru, Shin doubt he would be able to EVEN see the boy.  
  
"He's rather fast isn't he?"  
  
Shin turned around. Behind him was Hotaru sitting in midair again. Shin's eyes widened in shock. [[Hotaru?! What are you doing here?!]] Hotaru merely smiled at him.  
  
"What are you looking at Shin," asked Tsunade. She took her seat as she looked around, trying to find what Shin was staring at.  
  
"It's nothing," said Shin quickly. [[I thought you went to see mother.]]  
  
I did.  
  
[[But... but...]]  
  
She's going to think you're weird.  
  
Shin stopped himself from gaping. Tsunade was here and the last thing Shin wanted was her asking what he was doing again. Baka, did you forget you can see me when I'm invisible?  
  
Shin felt his face sting with a hint of embarrassment behind his scarf. Yes, he had forgotten that little fact sometimes. Usually Hotaru stayed hidden when they traveled, behind a tree or a few buildings away. It sometimes slipped Shin's mind that he could see Hotaru even if she was invisible to others. He had no idea why though. On second thought. why on earth was Hotaru even here to begin with? She said she was busy today.  
  
[[I thought you were busy.]]  
  
I wanted to watch instead. Pay attention, you might learn something from this.  
  
[[Alright.]]  
  
=========  
  
Sai jumped back, landing in a crouching position. The dust flew as he landed. Before he could even catch his breath, his opponent (or should I say opponents) were attacking again.  
  
Kiba had used the Juujuin Bunshin, transforming his dog into an exact copy of himself. Sai found it annoying as he could no longer tell them apart and both were very capable of hurting him. Now he had two problems to deal with. This brought new light to the saying that pets look a lot like their owners.  
  
Sai back flipped away as Kiba and Akamaru came at him with the Gatsuuga. 'They're fast. Almost faster than me when they use that move.' His emerald eyes widened in shock as his scarf began to tear. 'They had barely touched me. I need to slow them down,' he thought. 'Damn this move is going to cost me a lot of chakra.'  
  
Sai stabbed his sword into the ground and began his hands seal. Kiba and Akamaru were coming at him again. "Setsugen!"  
  
The burst of smoke blinded Kiba and Akamaru for a moment. When it cleared, the field had changed. Instead of dirt and glass, Kiba and Akamaru found themselves in waist deep snow. "What the-," said Kiba. "Where the hell did all this snow come from?!"  
  
=========  
  
[[Onee-chan?]]  
  
Hm?  
  
[[How did that white hair kid get so much snow?]]  
  
Figure it out.  
  
[[Hotaru!]]  
  
I repeat, figure it out.  
  
[[Onee-chan!!... fine. Be that way. Can you at least tell me who will win?]]  
  
Good question.  
  
Shin wanted to scream. Did Hotaru have to be so literal and mysterious? He chose his words carefully.  
  
[[Argh! Okay then at least whom you think will win.]]  
  
Kiba. But at the current moment the white hair boy has the upper hand.  
  
Shin blinked. [[Why?]]  
  
The white haired one changed the battlefield into one he is used to. The white haired one, Sai, is from Snow Country, a place where it always snows. He is used to the snowy terrain that you see in front of you. It is said that snow shinobis can walk through or on snow without leaving any footsteps. Kiba, however, isn't use to this kind of terrain. Konoha is a place of warm weather most of the year. But that move cost Sai a lot of chakra. Kiba will have a hard time at first, but he will win.  
  
=============  
  
Kiba struggled in the snow. Akamaru wasn't having much luck either. He then felt the cold metal flinging past him. It cut his cheek, drawing blood. A kunai. Akamaru found another lodged into his arm. The crimson red blood dripped down, staining the pure white snow a ruby red.  
  
'Where's he coming from,' thought Kiba franticly. There were no movement in the snow as he struggled to get out of it. The snow should show where Sai was coming from, even more then regular dirt. He leaned back to avoid the incoming kunai only to fall down in the snow.  
  
Akamaru managed to leap in the same direction as the kunai came. He only met air and then a face full of snow.  
  
"Too slow."  
  
Both Kiba and Akamaru looked up too Sai standing in the snow just a few feet away from them. Err... correction. Sai was standing on top of the snow. 'How the hell is he able to do that,' thought Kiba. 'Oh wait... he's probably using chakra.'  
  
Kiba concentrated focusing his chakra before leaping into the air. He landed in the snow. 'Damnit. I forgot. Snow and water two completely different things, need two completely different amounts of chakra,' thought Kiba angrily. He tried again, this time he got it right. Akamaru followed his master's example.  
  
"So you figured out to stand on snow," said Sai coldly. "It won't change the outcome of the battle." He disappeared from view again.  
  
"Yukifuri!"  
  
Kiba was throw back. His jacket was torn in many place, blood leaking. "What the hell was that attack?!" Sai appeared in his line of vision again. For some reason, the snow shinobi was breathing hard. Akamaru leaped at Sai, who ducked and rolled at the last second. Akamaru didn't stop there. To buy Kiba some time, he continued the process of leap and dodge.  
  
Kiba struggled out of the snow. Sai dodged Akamaru's last attack and disappeared again. "That's not going to work on me again," mumbled Kiba. "Akamaru!"  
  
"Gatsuuga!"  
  
'You won't hit me, if you can't see me,' thought Sai as he weaved through the trees, preparing for an attack. His eyes widened in shock as Kiba and Akamaru came right at him. "Wha?"  
  
Sai went flying. He hit the wall and slumped down, unconscious. Gemna walked over to him checking to see if the snow shinobi was alright. "Winner, Kiba."  
  
=========  
  
Shin felt excitement bubble inside of him. This was so interesting. Kiba had a strong sense of smell. With Sai's weapon soaked in his blood so much, it was easy for him to find the snow shinobi. Shin smiled happily behind his scarf before he felt something. It was someone watching him. He looked down into the stands.  
  
There in the crowd of people he saw the one person that seemed to stand out. Long crimson red hair swayed. It stood out against the black tank top and pants. The silver necklace gleamed in the sunlight as well as the silver buckles located around the right wrist and left leg. Black fingerless gloves completed the outfit. Shin's grip tightened as the person gave him a salute before disappearing into the shadows. The metal railing began to bend as Shin remembered those haunting, inhuman crimson red eyes. 'Kage...' he thought.  
  
Shin turned around, about to inform his sister what he just saw. Hotaru wasn't there. She must have decided to take action instead. Shin flew out of the Hokage's box. "Shin," called out Tsunade. "Where are you going?!"  
  
Shin called back as he ran. "Sorry, Hokage-sama there's something I've got to do!" Then he was gone. Tsunade blinked in confusion. She didn't understand what was going on.  
  
=======  
  
Shin practically flew down the steps of the stadium. That person... it was the same man that Shin was looking for. He couldn't have gone far, not with Hotaru tracking him. Shin broke out into a sprint. He had to be close.  
  
He reached the edge of the field, just before the outskirts of the town, when his sister's voice stopped him. "Forget it. He's long gone."  
  
Shin looked up. There was Hotaru standing on a tree branch, arms crossed as she looked out at the unaware town. Her sun-kissed hair flew in the wind. There was an angry look on her face. Shin slammed his fist into a nearby tree. "Damnit," he said angrily.  
  
"He knows you're here."  
  
"I know that," said Shin bitterly. He should have known that Kage was standing in that crowd. What if he did something to those people? He would have never forgiven himself if Kage did something. Shin allowed himself to relax too much in this village. He was cursing himself when he heard Hotaru's next words.  
  
"You should leave," Hotaru said calmly. She didn't have to worry about anyone hearing her. There was no one around, everyone was still in the stadium.  
  
Shin looked up at her. "What?!"  
  
Hotaru looked at her brother. Her amethyst purple held traces of emotions that Shin had a hard time identifying. "Are you willing to put another village at risk, otouto? I know you grew attached to this village but ..." she trailed off.  
  
"I can't just leave! Not while he's still here," said Shin. How could Hotaru even suggest something like that?! Like she said, he had grow attached to this village and it's people. He felt... at home here.  
  
Hotaru let out a soft sigh. She knew exactly what Shin feeling and she knew why he grew so attached to this place. "Remember who we are dealing with, otouto," she said softly. "He will hurt those around you, Lee-san, Hokage- sama, Neji-san, Sasuke-san, even Yuri-san, all of them. If he doesn't hurt them, he'll kill them."  
  
Anger left Shin as he remembered. "Still..." he started  
  
"I know..." interrupted Hotaru. "I know..." Words did not always have to be spoken to understand.  
  
Shin opened his mouth to say something again when an explosion interrupted him. Both his and Hotaru's attention snapped towards Konoha. There a column of fire rose into the sky, turning the normally blue sky a deadly red color. Embers flews and sparkles appeared. Shin felt the hairs on his neck stand. "No..." he whispered. He took off towards the village in a fit of panic.  
  
To be continue...  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------  
  
(1) Someone please tell me why it's oil. La/=/er- Not only Seito, but also me. We had a conversation about this...if you want to see it, it's in our profile, lol.  
  
Seito: Evil cliffhanger!!!! MWUHAHAHA I haven't written one of those in a long time. I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. A few more notes...  
  
**ATTENTION ALL NEJI/LEE FANS!!! PLEASE CHECK OUT THE ADVENTURE SERIES WRITTEN BY THE LA/=/ER HERSELF. LOCATED UNDER THIS PENNAME, NA HOKU.**  
  
**ATTENTION: FOR THOSE OF YOU WANTING MORE INFORMATION ON HOW EVERYONE TOOK NARUTO'S DISAPPEARANCE PLEASE READ THE LA/=/ER'S STORIES, 'His Arms', 'To Act As A Father' and 'Orochimaru's Wish' FOR MORE DETAIL. (=WHISPER= SHE ALSO HAS A GOOD SASUNARU STORY UNDER THERE BUT IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS STORY)**  
  
Seito: Hmm... I think that's it.  
  
La/=/er: My turn next. See you in the next chapter. And really Seito, caps _and_ bold?  
  
Seito: =BIG SMILE= I felt like it. Okay the only thing left is...  
  
**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	6. The Fire Signals the Start

Disclaimer: Naruto and it's included characters and storyline belongs to its creator and any affiliated companies.

La/=/er- At first I wasn't going to ramble, but then I thought of something to say, and now that I've finished writing the chapter...I forgot what it was... Hum...give me a moment. There's that one thing. I believe that there will be a total of four main OCs.

Seito: Actually it's more like two. Just Hotaru and Kage as the major OCs. Anyone else mentioned [AKA Hotaru's mother] probably has some relationship to Hotaru, but doesn't play any major part in the story. I think...

La/=/er- Well, it seems we need more communication. Anyway, oh yeah, I remember what I wanted to say now! =reaches out hands and slowly closes around Seito's neck=

Seito- Gah, what are you doing?

La/=/er- I'm mad at you for being almost finished with chapter 7. DIE! =shakes her co-author=

Seito- ...=sweatdrop=

La/=/er- Yes, Seito is indeed close to finishing chapter 7. I think she's trying to make me out as the bad part of this pair. Honestly, it takes _me _a month to update and _she's_ done in days. =mutter mutter=

(One last thing, if you're obsessive, you may have noticed that when we "speak" sometimes we use colons, other times we use dashes. Dashes are things I write. Colons are things Seito inserts. And in her chapters colons are what she writes and dashes are what I insert and yadda yadda yadda.)

**Review Responses**

**_Jenniyah-_** Yup, Shin found the guy who took his memories, although it's more like the guy found him. The reason why Hotaru wants him to leave and the reason for him killing Shin's friends, but not Shin...are related. Think about it, Naruto, and now Shin, holds his friends in high regard. If his friends got hurt... Nope sorry, no action, just a lot of...other stuff. But don't worry about it, in a few chapters, you might get more than you want. This is supposed to revolve around action, but not yet, first Shin has to le-- Sorry, revealing too much (Seito: Plus they say dying is easy and a quick death is painless. Kage probably wants to cause Shin as much pain as he can before Kage actually kills him. After all what's a better way to reduce someone's spirit than by hurting his/her loves ones. That person becomes depressed to the point they believe it's their fault right?) =nods along with Seito=

**_moonlight2- _**I'm assuming you mean Seito. But I agree, her fics are nice. And here's the continuation!

**_Lostlily- _**Kage did remind me of Kyuubi when I read it over the second time. I think I need to talk to Seito about this... Oo, Legend of Legaia, I've watched my friends play that game, seems cool. Too bad I moved and I can't borrow the game anymore. Thanks for the suggestion though. (Seito: Really? Kyuubi? Does everyone think my OCs are related to Kyuubi? First Hotaru now Kage... hmmm....)

**_izumi-_** Both Seito and I have read manga before. But seeing as how we both read mainly shounen manga, not a lot of kissing goes on. And the sfx aren't always romanized. And I didn't like the way you said "another oc?" It doesn't mean anything bad, does it? Both Seito and I, mainly Seito, have bad experiences with bad OCs, (you know, Gary Stus and Mary Sues Seito: =Twitch=) so if our (well, really her) OCs get dissed, we tend to take it to heart. Ah, but thanx for the kiss. =beaming grin=

**_Sunhawk6498- _**Really? Naruto's called Shin? Where? (Seito: WE WANNA KNOW!) And I believe Seito is practically blushing with your compliment. If it's for the whole story as well, I blush too, lol. Yeah, I always found it frustrating when author's put footnotes and then the numbers or signs sorta just blend and you have no idea where the footnote belonged and you have no idea where you were and you sorta drift, lost until... darn, I need to stop rambling.

**_ghostninja85-_** You made an interesting observation of Kage, I shall need to speak with Seito about that. Haha, I was rather giddy when I found out I knew what you were talking about. And after that, I started seeing your name in review responses everywhere. You read a lot, you know? And review too. You're the kind of reader authors want everywhere. I didn't update very soon, did I... (Seito: =Whacks head= I really need to consider how I chose names for my OCs. I'll give this much... Kage isn't a former Kage leader.) Ignore her for now, I still need to talk to her about this.

**_kitusne, Night-Owl123, SoulDemon80, TheTrueSilver, Melrose Stormhaven-_** =bows deeply= Thank you for reading and reviewing this story. (Hearing you like it makes me giddy)

**_kashisenshey- _**I think our story rules too...I need to stop doing this. Anyway, it'll be some time before Naruto/Shin gets his memory back, but don't worry, it does happen. And there's stuff to fill up the waiting time, just hang in there. and now I'm starting to feel guilty that I took so long to update...3 weeks...

**_Kutsu-_** Interestingly, you were the only person who gave any indication that the cliffhanger was even there. (Seito: XD) And sometimes we all just wish the computer screen wasn't there. So many dilemmas would be solved if you could just reach in and... stopping... I like Shin too, he's very Naruto, but not, he managed to grow under our non-nurturing hands, =tear= I think if you stick a different name on him, he does that.

**_Sailor Omega/white Valkerie-_** Seito and I were rather fascinated that someone actually answered our question. And yes, we both know about the summoning thing. Still...oil. And I will continue this story even if it means the death of me! Hopefully not Seito though as she has other stories to finish. (Seito: Che... if school doesn't kill me first)

**I wanted to say this just in case, even though it may not seem like it, this will eventually become a shounen-ai fic. With SasuNaru. And I don't know if you noticed, but there's KakaIru and Neji/Lee as well. Alright, just wanted to make that clear again. That's it. Read on.**

**=nervous laugh= I'm talking too much, but I wanted to say that even if I don't write it out, I deeply appreciate all the reviews that come our way. Each and every single one. Even if they only have a few words...**

**Hmm...originally, I wrote here that I was posting up a sappy SasuNaru on my account. But although I did post one up, it's not sappy. =twitch= It's humor. I seem to be obsessed with writing humor. Check it out though if you have time and remember to review this and that! It's called Misconceptions, under my account, The La/=/er. Jenniyah's already read it though. Thanx btw!**

**=frustrated sigh= Hey======Hey is now my new separator.**

* * *

_T------------------T_

_Without Life_

_T------------------T_

**Chapter VI: The Fire Signals the Start**

_Fire, lights, pain_

_A spark_

_A splinter_

_CRASH!_

_Heavy breathing_

_He paced frantically, trying to find a way in. The heat... the unbearable heat pressed into him. It suffocated him, but still he pushed on. The flames licked the walls and the ceiling, trying to prevent him from moving. But he had to... he had to!_

_Falling wood, lights, sorrow_

_A single cough_

_A tiny wail_

_KERPLUNK!_

_A stifled shriek_

_There was someone in here! he had to--_

_"Tasukete!" a hurried voice_

_"Help me" a pleading voice_

_"Save me" a searching voice_

_"Please" a voice losing hope_

_"This is all your fault" a condemning voice_

_"If it wasn't for you..." an accusing voice_

_"Why did you come here?" a voice tinged with hopelessness_

_"How could you do this?" a desperate question_

_"Why did you return?" a damned voice_

_Heavy breathing was heard. The voices, they pained him, pressed into him. He felt the desperation, he felt the accusation and it hurt. It hit something deep within him. He couldn't take it. Why? Why were these questions asked?! He tried, he tried! But he couldn't do it. He couldn't do it...but why...?_

_"We don't need **you**" an indignant voice_

_"**I **don't need you" a whisper of pain._

Gasp

Shin jerked awake, sweat pouring down his face, drenching his top. His ragged breathing rang throughout the room, the remnants of his dream rampaging through his thoughts. The voices he heard. It hurt him deep within. He didn't understand. The voices were not real. He didn't hear them in the fire. He didn't. He knows he didn't. Did he? Shin shook his head slightly, startled at the panic he himself heard in his own thoughts. Why did the voices affect him so much? Why did he feel so much pain? Why were the last words spoken shattering his soul?

In the five years he traveled, in the five years he was with his onee-chan, he never felt such deep emotions; they were hitting him deep within. For so long, his emotions were detached, the hole left by his memories took away so much. But when he came to this town...when the fire occurred...

_Yes, the fire, it all started with the fire._ Shin blinked, startled at the bitterness he heard in his thoughts. But it wasn't the fire. It was Kage, the reason why this was all happening. In the end, it was all his fault. And he could tell no one. Besides the fact that few knew they existed, to tell would mean pain. The simple appearance of Kage already presented so much hurt. And he knew that what happened today would be a part of Shin's memories, forever and a day.

_Flashback _(as most of this chapter is a flashback, I'm not ital...blah...or anything as your eyes will prolly die)

Hearing the blast and seeing the color spread through the normally pleasant sky shook Shin to the core. Without looking to see if Hotaru was following, he ran towards the village, hoping beyond hope that no one was injured. If the blast took place at the stadium... _No... _Shin shook his head, he could not think like that. An attack there would be too obvious, it would hurt them more than it would hurt Shin.

Running through the buildings that stood at the edge of town, he ran nearer and nearer to the site of the fire. Arriving, he could only stand there in shock. The blast was close to the stadium, too close. It was close enough to have flames licking at the walls of it. Thankfully, a wind was blowing the fire towards the opposite directions, but on the other side were even more shops and buildings. The only thing he could be grateful for was that everyone was in the stadium, nobody would get hur...

Before he could finish his thought, he heard a sound that he dreaded to hear. It was a sound that few people would hear and even he heard only on occasion.

"No... it can't be."

Afraid of what he would see, he turned around to see Hotaru standing there **(1)**. Sensing his gaze upon her, she could only look at him with a sorrow-filled glance.

"Shin... you had to have known this would happen--"

He cut her off and said with a demanding voice, "Who? Who was it?"

When he was met with only silence, he grew infuriated, "WHO IS IT? TELL ME!"

Not noticing that people were starting to trickle out from the stadium, **(2)** Shin only grew more frantic, although with habit, it was not shown on his features. Hotaru, however, was able to notice that soon there would be too many witnesses and though they could not see her, seeing Shin yell at thin air would not be a good thing. So regretfully, she said simply a word. One that would plunge Shin into a pool of guilt.

"Yuri."

Emotions pouring out of Shin that was unlike him, he struggled to keep control. But he was unused to the onslaught that came with that one word and with a determined glance, he marched straight into the fire.

Hotaru did nothing; simply stood there with the black threads in her hand, wondering if it would all turn out okay in the end. Even without her mother's powers, she knew that this was truly the beginning of their search for Kage. A search that would bring pain, reunion, separation, joy, love, and most apparent, loss.

Hey======Hey

Shin ran into the burning building, not seeming to notice the fire that was hungry for more to consume. He ran from room to room of the three-story building, finding nothing except for more fire. Finally, he reached to a room on the second floor.

The room was of a decent size, that at the moment, contained nothing except for fire and charred remains, but one could see that it used to be a children's room. One that was filled with toys, a dresser, a bed. All of which made of wood, providing the fire even more fuel to burn. In the middle of it all, laid a body that was unrecognizable, except to Shin.

Holding a rein on his emotions, he ran into the room, dodging falling debris to reach the body. Running at a speed that caused him to become merely a blur, he sprinted outside and placed the body a safe distance away. Sparing the burnt body only a glance, he ran back into the building, this time in the company of several shinobi, most of them from Mist.

Ignoring their attempts to stop the fire, Shin ran back to the second floor and continued to search. He knew, felt it in his gut that there were more people. Reaching another room on that floor, he heard traces of a person crying. Almost sighing in relief, he went in, ignoring the fire yet again, and immediately caught sight of a child huddling in a corner of the room. Avoiding the traveling flames, he walked towards the child, slowly trying to coax him out.

With a promise of water and fresh air, the child slowly made his way to Shin. By the time he reached Shin, the fire had cracked through the ceiling and caused pieces of it to fall, predictably, blocking the doorway. In ordinary circumstances, it would be easy to cross the doorway even with the flaming objects, but he now held a child in his hands. Attempting to find a window in the smoke and haze, a flash of light caught his eye as he tried to cough smoke out of his lungs.

Unfortunately, with that first cough, his body began shaking in a need to release the repressed air. Stumbling towards the window, he reached it only to find it jammed shut. Releasing the child, he used both hands to knock at the glass. It was thin, not strong enough to handle a punch. With a slight wince in preparation of what he was about to do, he quickly snapped his fist through the window and heard the glass tinkle and crinkle as it broke and fell down. Thankful that he was still a bit small for his age, he thrust the child out through the window before following his hands and jumping out of the building.

Placing the child safely on the ground, he turned back to return to the building. Hotaru took a step (well...she moved alright?) towards him.

"No."

"Shin! There's nothing you can do anymore! You will only end up hurting yourself unnecessarily!"

"No."

Shin refused to turn back to look at his sister. She wouldn't understand. She can't understand... Conveniently forgetting who she was, he went back into the building in hopes of finding more people. The instinct that he followed all his life told him that there were still people alive in there. And he was to be held responsible for this, so he would do whatever he can in order to help.

All throughout his actions, a crowd had begun to gather around the burning building and the buildings surrounding it. Shinobi ran between the structures, attempting to stop the fire. The Mist shinobi used their water jutsus and the others used other various jutsus to try to stop the fire. Other shinobis ran into the building to see if there were any survivors. The child Shin saved stood in the middle of the commotion, close to tears.

Interestingly, in the middle of it all, it was Uchiha Sasuke who walked up to the child to hold him in his arms. In those arms, Tamashii Kenichi cried.

Hey======Hey

Even though Shin had told his sister he would not stop. He was still confused. There was absolutely no reason for him to care so much. He knew that his sister was right. There was nothing he could do. But his emotions spilled out, allowing him to act without thought, allowing him to move without feeling the heat.

He walked through the building, passing by shinobi who brought their own bundles outside into the clear air. No one paid him much attention, it was not till later on that anybody realized that he was practically walking through the fires. By the time the feeling that there were still people in the building faded, he had resorted to wandering the building, ignoring the flames.

Shin had no more control. What happened now, happened without thought, without caution, and without feeling.

The confusion ran through him still. The pain existed in all corners of his mind. He did not understand. Why? Why was he not able to understand the emotions he felt?!

Almost unconsciously, he had realized that there was no one left in the building, the only living beings near him were the shinobi outside trying the keep the flames from escaping the grasps. And with a detached off smile, he let go.

Hey==Hey

Outside, the shinobi and the villagers tried to stop the fire in vain. Fires in Konoha were not rare; the villagers usually stopped them, larger ones with the help of the shinobi. But this fire refused to be put down. It continued to consume and when there was nothing more to consume in the vicinity, it reached out. The fire wanted to live; it wanted to eat. That was its purpose. The one that started them wanted this, didn't he? To stop that which surrounded it, to pause forever that pulse of life within and without.

And it hungered with strength because it was backed by a power that the shinobi did not yet understand. The fire understood its life. It was very simple. To consume what it can and to destroy what it can. For there was only life when there is death. The fire held great pride in its role in nature, it held a high power and with the help of those in the dark, it held a power unlike any it has felt before. It would not be stopped. It could not be stopp--

Unnoticed by those of the mortal world, a pulse had began. A slight pitter-patter that had not been heard for a long time. And the fire grew scared. It shrank at an unbelievable rate, leaving only an ember that was held within a small flower that no one noticed. And with a slight displacement of air, the ember and the flower disappeared with a snatch of a hand.

Hey==Hey

Lost in the emotions that were too strong for this situation, Shin did not realize that the fire had stopped. While the shinobi were only able to stand outside in confusion, through the holes of the building, Hotaru was able to see that Shin had done what he was not supposed to. Growing enraged, she drifted into the building, never noticing the two pairs of eyes following her every move. Both with confusion, both with almost detached feelings.

With a jolt, one of them turned their eyes down to the child he held within his arms. The child was still crying, and with sympathetic feelings he merely tightened his hold. Wishing the child the best of luck in his mind.

The other turned to his hand, playing with the sand he was prepared to use to cover the fire if the spirit had gotten too hungry. Vaguely understanding the world he just caught a glimpse of, he turned to his two siblings and with a glance, the three left the area.

Hotaru stepped up the teenager and suppressed her anger. He was after all, simply a teenager. One who had lost his memories and was re-introduced to what he once knew so well. She regretted that she had to withhold that information, but he had to find out on his own or nothing would progress. Spending the past five years with him alone had made her forget that there were still things they had to do, even if Shin did not know what must be done.

She sighed in regret, unfortunately, the emotions he felt would remain confusing to him. The extent to which he felt them, dulled. She herself did not plainly understand why his reaction was so volatile, but with the vision in front of her, she had no choice. She could not let _them_ win.

_Death stared at the Kyuubi._

_The Kyuubi merely stared back._

_With a signal of acknowledgement, the trap was set._

Hotaru raised her hand and brought it down with a fierce determination. Her hand met the face that was slowly changing. Cloak and scarf burnt to be merely rags, Shin's face was clearly seen, along with his arms and the rest of his body. They were slowly changing into something that was not supposed to be seen. Changing into a form that was seen only twice before. Changing into a form that Hotaru had trained Shin to control somewhat. The form that allowed fire to fear him and to obey. The form that had supposedly attacked this same village 17 years ago. The form of the nine-tailed fox.

But behind Hotaru's slap, she inserted a sliver of power and when it connected, there was an eruption of light before a power struggle broke out right there.

The sliver of aura she inserted into Shin had a purple tint to it, clearly standing out from the red aura that surrounded the boy.

With an abrupt move, the red receded and allowed the purple to take over. However, before Hotaru could relax in relief, a flash of color caught her eye. It crept towards a spot to the right of his neck. A nasty black design.

Snarling (and silently wondering if perhaps she was spending_ too _much time in his presence), Hotaru decided to forego delicacy and gave a nice juicy left hook to the boy in front of her.

With a snap of his head, Shin stumbled and opened his eyes. When red/blue eyes opened, the black mark crawled off the boy and slid quite neatly into the palm of Hotaru's hand.

I seem to be collecting a lot of items today.

Not realizing she was thinking in a way that allowed Shin to hear, she was startled when Shin's voice rang out.

"Items? What items? What have you been doing, onee-chan?" Shin drew a wide vulpine grin across his face and swung his arms up in a stretch.

"Eh? What happened he--"

With a vein popping (quite unlike Hotaru, you must understand, but really, this would annoy the best of people), Hotaru swung a fist towards Shin's direction, only to miss with a swift duck on his side.

"Why are you ducking?"

"You're swinging a fist--" Shin started with an indignant tone before he realized that the voice did _not _belong to Hotaru.

"Heh, uh..." Shin slowly turned around. Slowly...slowly...slowly..

"Alright, turn around damnit!"

Interestingly, the authoress did not say this, this was said by Tsunade-hime whose nerves were already frayed from all the complications that seemed to be happening this Chuunin Exam.

Almost as if shocked by her words, Shin swiftly turned around, and around and around, before finally stopping, thankfully facing Tsunade.

Somehow, as soon as he saw her face, the events of the past few hours rushed to him, immediately damping his carefree mood that he had donned for a few minutes.

But as Hotaru had thought to herself, the emotions he thought he felt during the time were dulled to the point that Shin was able to accept them quite readily. He had felt kin to those in the village, he expected to feel _some_ sorrow at what had occurred.

"Yuri! What happened to her?"

Tsunade glanced at him and continued to look.

Growing nervous at the look he was receiving, he came close to stuttering, "W-what?"

"We had only just figured out that the body you brought outside was Tamashii Yuri. She was burned to be completely unrecognizable. How did you know?"

Shin grew serious, realizing that this was not the time to act foolish. However, he only gave a simple answer, one that would've led to hours of investigation, "I felt it."

Tsunade merely sighed at his answer; the face that she was seeing was too painful. "Do you want something to cover up your face, or will you be fine?"

Shin blinked, confused, before growing frantic. "Ahh, I didn't even realize! Is it okay if I borrow something from you?"

With a signal, one of the shinobi standing outside the building boundary brought a cloak to the Hokage. "You can use this for now." With that, she turned and walked out of the building, fully expecting the boy to follow her. Shin looked around for Hotaru, but after fruitlessly searching for her (one would wonder how he did it considering he didn't move an inch from where he was standing) he shrugged and followed Tsunade-hime.

Tsunade walked between all the onlookers, in some cases pushing them away. Thankfully, Tsunade refrained from pushing the shinobi from the other villages, as they seemed rather uptight with all that was happening. As she walked, several shinobi fell behind her and by the time they reached the Hokage's tower, they had quite a procession following them.

Finally reaching the tower, Tsunade sat down behind her desk and motioned to Shin to sit in front of her. Slightly cautious at the reason for his presence, he sat on the edge of his seat, ready to move at a moment's notice. The shinobi that followed her separated, most staying outside the office, some staying inside. Settling herself into the chair, Tsunade calmly looked over her hands at Shin.

"What is the reason for me being here?" By this time, Shin had grown uneasy and tense.

"As I'm sure you've realized by now, you are to be the subject of our investigation." Tsunade looked steadily at Shin, expecting an answer but was only met by silence.

Met by silence, she glanced around her office, before returning her gaze to the boy in front of her. Allowing herself to be affected by weakness was quite unlike her, but just this once, she gave in.

"It's late though. We'll continue the investigation tomorrow. But until then, you are to remain in this tower under strict surveillance." Tsunade ignored the glares she could felt from her subordinates.

True, they were her subordinates, but without their support, she would not be able to lead the country. She would be without strength, despite the great physical strength she held in her body. So for their benefit, she added, "I'm tired, it's been a long day. And I don't believe that interrogating you when I'm irritable will be fair to you." She paused, "Dismissed."

With slight hesitation, those in the room left it, only two remained to escort the suspect to his designated room.

"Take him to the guest bedroom, activate all the traps and schedule a guard schedule."

The two nodded and led Shin outside of the room.

"Tomorrow's going to be a long day." Tsunade spoke with resignation, not realizing how true her words would be.

_End Flashback _(can you believe this whole thing was a flashback? Not that it's hard...)

And now he was here. In the guest bedroom of the Hokage Tower. It wasn't bad, had a nice, soft bed and decent furnishings. Definitely more than he was used to throughout all his traveling.

Shin sighed, wincing mentally at the pain he felt, not knowing it was a backlash of the emotions he felt that afternoon/evening. But still, one thing didn't make sense. Why did the last voice hurt so much? Who would've needed him in the first place? Before he could think further and perhaps manage to dig up memories of the past, thumping footsteps outside his room distracted him.

The door to his room opened and after his guard saw that he was still there and had apparently woken up, she signaled him to follow her.

"Hokage-sama will probably want to see you," she assumed, correctly, as she found out moments later.

Walking to the Hokage's office, Shin saw more and more shinobi running around. It was obvious to him that it wasn't something big. He would've heard something, so what was so important?

Shin's instincts must've sucked right at that moment, for when he arrived at the office, he was immediately sat down and told of what happened.

"As you were supposed to be investigated for the first fire and since you were still in your room when another occurred, I believe that it is best to tell you what happened."

"A second fire?"

"Yes. This time, at the academy."

"The academy!" Shin restrained himself from bolting upright, "Was anyone hurt?"

"Thankfully, as it was - is - nighttime there were no children there. However, there was one person there. And it seems that the fire was started as to harm them."

"Who is it?!" It had to be Kage, there was no one else who would set so many fires. And if it was him, then the person who got hurt, got hurt because of him... Who? Shin grew worried. Kage had shown himself to be a sadistic man and this was the one way that he knew he could cause pain to Shin and in turn, to Hotaru.

Frustrated by the silence, and forgetting that the woman in front of him was the leader of the hidden village, he shouted out. "Who was hurt!"

"It was Umino Iruka."

Shin sat down with a 'whomp', distantly wondering when he had ever gotten up. "How...how is he?" A stab of pain pierced him, even while he wondered why he cared so much.

"He's in critical care and we're not sure if he can make it."

To be continued...

* * *

**(1)** Actually floating a bit, but he's too distraught to notice

**(2) **Apparently, he was able to move that fast, as even though they were far, far away, he had arrived at the scene before anybody could come out from the stadium, even though it was only a bit of a distance away. And yes, I realize how ridiculous it is as ninjas are ridiculously fast in the first place, but let's go with the flow alright? Just think that the shock of the blast caused them to like falter or something.

La/=/er- I cackle long and hard!!! I finished, I finally finished! And hand in hand with that, I actually started! Oh yeah, guess who said the last words in Shin's dreams? If you don't know, I'm ashamed at you, why did you read this fic after reading the summary then? Actually, I'm just wondering if anyone's reading this since it's not bold.

After so long of feeling that I needed to do something, the feeling is now gone!! Although I think I messed up this chapter because of that. I sorta swerved in the plot, added things that weren't supposed to be here and changed details. Well, actually the plot is the same, I just gave the story an extra detail. I need to talk to Seito... but she's all tired!

Seito: ... You would be too if you had school. Cursed homework. You need to die! =Whacks the homework only for it to fall down= Ow... I'm alright... I think...

La/=/er- Poor girl, but then, I'm rather anxious about my approaching school days. One last note, **in the middle of the story, particularly about the fire, I'm guessing some of you are confused, I know Seito was. To tell the truth, I have a feeling that if you didn't live within my brain you would be. There are some things that will be explained later on, particularly the parts with Hotaru. The little thing about the fire there was written from a idea from a book I read. The idea that fire in its own way was alive and had it's own purpose, don't worry too much if you don't get it, it's not _that _important. The thing in italics will also be explained later on. **

**Um...what else... Ah yes, the reason to why the shinobi could not put out the fire, as I said, the fire was started by a different power than what they're used to. It was a rather unnatural fire, as you could see by the fact that the heart of it resided with a **_flower. _**And the reason of it suddenly diminishing will also be explained...most likely. Unfortunately there are still some stuff in here that I don't get myself, so make sure to ask any questions and I'll see about addressing those questions with Seito in later chapters. =nod nod= That should be it. **(Btw, did anybody notice how I suddenly went from serious to humor in like sentences? =dryly= I kill myself...)

**Review, review, and tell me how this chapter was. (And possibly check out my SasuNaru-ish one shot on my original account.)**

Written: 8/23/04 4:58:38 p.m. to 8/23/04 9:08:23 p.m. (Wow, almost exactly 4 hours and 16 minutes)


	7. Life, Death, and Everything In Between

Mesa no own Naruto

Seito: And we're back with another chapter!

**Warning! There will one more OC for this chapter. We promise it's only for a flashback! **(Seika: Why did you add me again?! I thought you said you weren't going to add me in! Seito: The La/-/er started it! La/-/er: Hey!)

**Replies to Reviews**

**Falcon-Rider**

Kyuubi isn't awake.

**SoulDemon80**

Ummm.... No? At least we think there aren't. Right now we're focusing on the action part and the romance will come later.

**Izumi**

We understand.

**Yum**

Umm we don't really know how to answer your question. Gaara sorta saw himâ€ but everyone else was too shocked about the fire. And according to Laer, it wasn't really much of change so yeah. (La/-/er: just facial features and they're too far away to tell, sorta like in the manga, sometime after Sasuke punched a hole through Naruto's lung... )

**Lostlily**

Blink, blink Hotaru and Kage a part of Shin? An interesting thought... though I'll say this much. Both Kage and Hotaru have existed before Shin/Naruto was born. Yeah, the last chapter was confusing. I didn't even understand. (La/-/er- It's because my brain's all weird... and stuff.)

**Ghostninja85**

Let's see the reason why they can see Hotaru is explained in this chapter... sorta. As for other part Gaara noticed, but didn't say or do anything about it.

**To the rest of the reviewers**

**THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING!!!!!!!**

&----------------------&

_Without Life_

&----------------------&

**Chapter VII: Life, Death, and Everything In Between**

&----------------------&

_Each heart knows its own bitterness,_

_And no one else can share its joy. _

_-Proverbs 14:10_

_A cheerful heart is good medicine,_

_But a crushed spirit dries up the bones._

_-Proverbs 17:22_

&-----------------------&

Last time

&-----------------------&

"It was Umino Iruka."

Shin sat down with a 'whomp', distantly wondering when he had ever gotten up. "How...how is he?" A stab of pain pierced him, even while he wondered why he cared so much.

"He's in critical care and we're not sure if he can make it."

&----------------------&

Shin felt his world slowly crumble. Iruka? Some of his worse nightmares were slowly coming true. Kage was hurting the ones he had come to care for. Yuri was dead... Iruka dying... and who knew who was next. Sakura? Kakashi? Lee? Neji? Sasuke? Whoever it would be... it would be all his fault. Shin felt numb as his emotions ran amuck again. The silence of the room was oppressive as the night wind howled and blew violently.

A piece of information clicked together in Shin's head as he admitted to himself that Iruka was in grave danger. If Iruka was dying... "Hokage-sama, can I see him," he asked hesitantly. There was a hint of desperation in his voice.

Tsunade paused and looked at him. With a heavy sigh she nodded. "I suppose so. I'm headed there right now."

&-------&

Sasuke ran through the streets of Konoha. He had just finished helping with the second fire when he learned that Iruka-sensei was hurt.

As he ran, thousands of questions ran through his head. What started the fire? Who started the fire? Why...? Why was the fire so hard to put out? It was almost like something else was controlling the fire, making it resistant to the water jutsus. It didn't make sense to Sasuke and for some reason, Sasuke believed Shin held the answers he needed.

&-------&

When Shin walked into Iruka's room, Kakashi was already there. However, the Copy Ninja didn't respond to his presence, more concerned about Iruka. Shin understood well and didn't offer a greeting.

Frowning, Shin looked around. He disliked hospitals. Even though the nurses disinfected everything and washed it clean; the stench of death still lingered. A place that can produce miracles and tragedies. Death and Life met here...

'Iruka-san...' he thought. The Chuunin had yet to regain consciousness and was wrapped in stark white bandages. Even from where he was standing he could smell the burnt flesh. 'I'm sorry. This is all my fault'

Outside, Hotaru watched the sad scene unfold in front of her. Death would be coming soon...

&----&

Sasuke came to a stop. It wasn't because he arrived at the hospital or that he saw Kakashi-sensei in the window... no, something else made him stop. Sasuke had to blink twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Behind him the cold wind of the night howled and an eerie silence seemed to settle around him.

Sitting just a few feet away from him, was a person... well, at least Sasuke thought it... she... was human, maybe an angel? The angel in front of him had long black hair. Her emotionless crimson red eyes were staring into the room that Iruka was resting in. The cold wind blew through her raven black dress and sash. The moonlight reflected off the silver trimming. She was extremely pale; she looked like a ghost. Behind her a pair of long, dragon-like, leather wings stretched out. In front of her, a gray orb glowed dully... turning darker and darker. It would only be a few hours before the orb turned completely black.

Slowly she turned her head towards the direction of Sasuke. In a few seconds he found himself staring into those cold crimson eyes. As if something icy had grabbed or touched his soul, an unnatural fear seemed to settle in his heart. His hands felt clammy as his body began to quiver and shake. Sasuke felt he was looking at Death in its face...

Suddenly a harsh gust of wind blew, causing Sasuke to close his eyes so that the dust wouldn't fly into them. When he opened them again the angel was gone

&---&

Shin watched Tsunade look over Iruka's injuries. He was torn between anger and guilt. Anger at Kage and at himself for not being able to do anything and guilt at the fact that he was the reason to why Iruka was hurt. He had lingered in this village for too long... now they were the ones paying the price while he silently suffered.

There was only one more thing he had to confirm and there was only one person who could answer him. _If_ she would answer him. ((Onee-chan?))

She didn't answer. Strike one as a bad sign. Shin tried again. ((Onee-chan?)) This time he heard her sigh. Strike two as a bad sign. ((HOTARU!))

Outside, Hotaru winced at the tone of her brother's voice/thought. That tone tore at her heart; placing a burden of guilt and regret upon her again. Again Shin called out to her. ((Onee-chan, please?))

Could she refuse to answer him? With a heavy heart, knowing she was about to cause him even more pain, she answered. $$...Yes Shin?$$ She was tired.

&---------&

'Such beautiful screams.' Tormented voices seem to flow around in the room yet there wasn't a single soul in sight. The screams were like a beautifully crafted song, each time it played it was different. In the middle of a dark room, inhuman crimson red eyes gleamed, full of malevolence. 'Such a beautiful lullaby.'

There was a spark of black lightning. The energy crackled as it blended in with the surrounding darkness. Fires were fun... but shadows provided more amusement. Unseen in the darkness, a malicious smirk spread across the face. 'Two down...'

&-----&

((Will Iruka...?)) Shin trailed off his thought, knowing Hotaru understood what he was asking.

Sadly Hotaru gave him the answer he didn't wish to hear. $$Yes.$$

Feeling a lump rise in his throat, Shin asked the next heartbreaking question. ((How long?))

&&Till Morning Light.&&

With just a sliver of hope Shin asked again, ((Is it avoidable?)) If there was any way to prevent Iruka's death he would take it. He didn't expect Hotaru's answer though.

&It is...but there is nothing you can do. Whether he lives or dies depends on him, Shin. If he wants to live...he will pull through. But a shadow haunts his heart, drawing him away from life and then pushing him away from death. He may be searching for death. I do not know.$$ Shin collapsed in the chair he was just sitting in. At the same moment Sasuke walked in.

&----&

Sasuke walked in to see Shin collapse in a chair. Briefly wondering why the sapphire/crimson eyed boy was here, he waited for Tsunade to finish before he started shooting off random questions about his former sensei. Finally, when she was done, Sasuke began to ask, "Will Iruka-sensei be alright?"

Tsunade and Kakashi turned towards Sasuke, slightly surprised. They didn't hear him come in. Behind Sasuke, near the window, Shin began to pale a bit, but the cloak and scarf that he borrowed helped to hide the paleness of his face.

"We're not sure," Tsunade answered truthfully. A frown appeared on Sasuke's face, a rare expression of emotion from the quiet Uchiha. Remembering what he just saw, he turned to Shin.

"Shin, you didn't happen to see someone outside, looking into this room when you came in, did you?"

Shin blinked, surprised at the question. "No," he answered honestly. He didn't see anyone outside of the hospital. Unless... he peered out the window, nothing. 'Hotaru was right outside all this time?' A very long talk with his sister was in order. She was keeping things from him again and he didn't like it.

Sasuke then turned to Kakashi and asked the same question. Kakashi shook his head. "No, I haven't, but I haven't been paying much attention either," said the Jounin. Who could blame him? His boyfriend laid unconscious on the bed before him, badly burnt. It would make anyone inattentive. "Why do you ask," Kakashi continued.

Sasuke shook his head. "It's nothing." Still, he couldn't get the image of the black angel out of his head. He remembered words that someone once told him. He had an interesting conversation with a snow ninja **(1)** a few years before. The Snow shinobi came to Konoha to open a weapon store here. Sasuke found the store to be very reliable and went there everyday. The Snow Nin, her name was Seika, often had small conversations with him from time to time. She left a year ago to take care of some business back in her own country. Sasuke hadn't seen her since. However, one conversation he had with her stood out in his mind.

"_Ne, Uchiha-kun, what do you think death is?"_

_Sasuke looked at her with a blank expression. Seika ignored the look and continued. "They say it's nothingness, but I believe it's an angel." That got Sasuke to raise an eyebrow. "For every Yin there is a Yang. If people believe life is an angel, then death should also be an angel. Yin and Yang, Life is a white angel with blue eyes as Death is a black angel with crimson red eyes. At least, that's what I believe," said Seika. Strangely, there was a cheerful tone in her voice. _

"_No one has ever seen an angel," Sasuke said skeptically._

_Seika just smiled. "Can you see wind?"_

Sasuke's frown deepened. If what Seika said was true then the black angel he just saw was Death. But why was she outside Iruka's room...? Unless... Sasuke's eyes widened. That meant Iruka-sensei... Sasuke refused to finish that thought. Then another question rose in mind. How was he able to see the angel?

&---&

Shadows danced as the flames flickered. The dull light of the fire now lighted the room that was just engulfed in darkness. Instead of one person there were two.

So, you are as powerful as you say.

::Do you doubt me, mortal?::

No. Although I am impressed. You managed to get into Konoha undetected and start two fires.

::I've done it once before, mortal. You underestimate me.::

Remember, I want Uchiha Sasuke alive.

The person who just thought that suddenly found himself pinned against the wall. Golden snake-like eyes and inhuman crimson ones met. Kage let out a dangerous hiss. ::I am grateful you freed me mortal, but that doesn't mean I will bow down to your orders. I could care less whether that boy lives or dies. In fact it would be better for me if he died.:: Kage loosened his grip. "_latrom akab **(2)**_," he said. Then he disappeared into the shadows.

&------&

Hotaru reappeared in the treetops at the outskirts of Konoha. That little run-in was a little too close for comfort and Hotaru felt like someone could see her when they shouldn't be able to. 'The boy...' she thought. Somehow she didn't like it. When she saw him, her instincts immediately told her to get out of there. She didn't know why though. Hotaru was almost sure he could see her... but how?

She was so quick to get out of there that she didn't pay much attention to her surroundings. She nearly fell out of the tree when she heard someone say, "Who are you?" Hotaru looked down.

There down below stood Gaara of Sand. Hotaru frowned and resisted the urge to step back. Surely he wasn't talking to her. He couldn't even see her. She was invisible. No one could see her except for Shin.

"Who are you?" repeated Gaara.

Hotaru didn't answer. Her mind was swimming. How was that possible? Her began to compile the possible answers. Hotaru blinked. 'Wha-? No way.' Biting her lip, she decided the best thing to do was disappear again. A gust of wind blew and she vanished.

Gaara frowned. Who was that girl?

&------&

Hotaru reappeared high above Konoha, her wings flapping as she hovered in the sky. Those two boys... She closed her eyes. Those were some close calls. The images of Sasuke and Gaara rose in her mind as she tried to make sense of what was happening. It just didn't make sense.

'Another pair of Demon Eyes... I better watch myself around him,' thought Hotaru. Her eyes opened as she looked down at the small figure moving away from the area she had just come from. Her gaze then turned towards the hospital.

'But how could that other boy see me? He doesn't possess Demon Eyes and I doubt he has Immortal Eyes either. The God Eyes disappeared ages ago. Hmm... I wonder...' thought Hotaru. Before she could ponder further, Shin interrupted her.

((Hotaru, isn't there anything you can do?))

Hotaru let out a sigh. Shin was so persistent sometimes. $$He has to choose for himself, Shin. I can't interfere.$$ Hotaru turned and headed towards the hospital. She didn't want to get too close else Sasuke would see her.

((But I can. At least let me try.))

Hotaru chewed on her lip. True, Shin could help. He wasn't bound to the same rules as she war. Still... Hotaru shook her head as if she was trying to rid herself of those thoughts. Since when was she so hesitant? Since when did she care about the rules? $$Oh alright. But remember, you can't tell him directly.$$

At the hospital, Shin smiled behind his scarf. Finally, a chance to help. He looked over at Kakashi who seemed very stressed out. Next to him, Sasuke stood by watching his two teachers. Tsunade had left just minutes before with a promise to come back in the morning.

$$You ready?$$

((Hold on.)) Shin arranged his body so it looked like he fell asleep. ((Okay.)) Then darkness engulfed him.

&--------&

Iruka blinked, once, twice, three times. Everything around him was gray except for two tall doors. The door to his left was black. Engraved into it was a pair of red dragon wings. The silver handles were also shaped like dragon wings. To his right, there was a white door. Blue bird wings were etched into the door and like the black door the white door had golden handles shaped like its engraving.

"What is this place?" asked Iruka.

"A place where you're about to make the most important decision of your life, Iruka-san."

Iruka turned around. Standing behind him was a person wearing a cloak and scarf. His eyes widened as they met the familiar sapphire/crimson eyes. "Shin?" asked Iruka.

&----&

Sasuke look over to where Shin was sitting. It surprised him to find the boy asleep. The young Uchiha still had questions to ask when Shin woke up. Many of them were about a black angel...

&----&

Hotaru hovered above the hospital. Well, she would know soon enough whether she would be taking someone beyond her doors. She let out a sigh. The only thing left to do was to wait and see what happened.

&&I suppose I should thank you.&& **(3)**

Hotaru let out a huff. $$For what? I wasn't the one who lost control.$$

&&Oh, so now you're blaming me? I wasn't the one who lost control, the brat did.&&

$$And you're supposed to make sure he doesn't lose control.$$

&&And you're the one who's supposed to make sure Kage doesn't hurt anyone.&&

Hotaru sighed, knowing this conversation wasn't going anywhere if they kept blaming each other. $$Look, let's just drop it. I'm not in the mood to argue with you.$$

&&Fine, but how on earth did you let Kage get in here without you knowing?!&&

$$The same way he attacked otouto the first time.$$ Hotaru felt the voice draw back for a second before returning with the same force as before.

&&How the hell did Kage get free anyway? You told me none of them should be able to escape!&& Hotaru rolled her eyes at the accusing tone. Like it was really her fault. However, when she did find out who was responsible

$$The seal was never supposed to break and since there is only one Kage, there is only a small break. Care to explain how that black mark appeared on Shin?$$ Hotaru shot back.

&&How am I supposed to know? I was concentrating on putting the fire out.&&

$$Of course... you are a fire master after all. You were always a pyromaniac. Kage probably placed the seal in the fire.$$ She felt the smile at the word 'pyromaniac'. She shook her head.

&&So the only thing left to do is wait, huh?&&

$$Yup.$$

&------&

Iruka blinked. What did Shin mean? Actually why and how was Shin here? Before he could ask, Shin spoke again. "Behind the white door to your right awaits your friends and Kakashi," Shin said softly. He looked towards the white door. "Behind the black door is a world without pain and suffering." He gestured towards the black door; the familiar words he was once told rang in his head.

Iruka could only stare in shock as he tried to make sense of what Shin was saying. Shin continued, "So Iruka-san, which door will you choose?"

"What do you mean?" asked Iruka. He still didn't understand.

Shin repeated himself. "I asked which door you will chose. Once you have chosen there is no turning back. Do you take the path that trails behind the black door or do you take the pathway that lies beyond the white one?"

&-----&

Kakashi was a mess. Barely acknowledging the fact that his student and Shin were the same room, his entire attention was turned to Iruka. The Jounin wasn't sure how long he would last if Iruka died. He had lost too many people in his life, his friends, Naruto, Kakashi refused to believe one more person was about to be added to that list.

'Iruka...' the Copy Ninja thought. Once again he was helpless to do anything.

&-----&

Silence...

While a world without pain and suffering did sound tempting, Iruka knew what he truly wanted. His life wouldn't be complete without Kakashi. He took a step towards the white door, but before he touched the handles of it, Iruka turned and looked back at Shin. "Tell me Shin, who are you really?" he asked

Behind his scarf Shin gave him a ghostly smile as sadness reflected in his eyes. "That Iruka-san, is the one thing I hope to find out."

Not really satisfied with the answer, Iruka decided not to push it. As he turned back to the door, Shin's voice stopped him again. "Ah and Iruka-san... Gomen nasai. This is all my fault," whispered Shin. Iruka snapped around, but Shin was already gone. More questions rose in Iruka's already confused mind. What did Shin mean by that?

Ignoring those thoughts Iruka pushed open the door.

&---------&

Above the hospital Hotaru felt a surge of power. She let out a sigh of relief as a small smile broke out on her face. Thank the stars... she wasn't taking anyone beyond Death's Doors. A soft glow surrounded her.

Down below in the hospital, Shin woke up. Kakashi and Sasuke hadn't moved from their spots when he last saw them. Shin smiled, feeling part of his guilt wash away. He managed to save one person. That was all he needed to know. For now he waited.

&----------&

Iruka shielded his eyes as a bright light shone in his face. When the light died down there was another person in its place, an angel so to speak. The angel had long white hair and sapphire blue eyes. Her long white robe was trimmed in gold. Feathery white bird-like wings flapped as she floated in the air.

"Who are you?" questioned Iruka.

The girl smiled and landed right in front of him. "I'm here to take you home." She held her hand out. "If that is what you wish." Iruka hesitantly took her hand. The bright light appeared again. This time it surrounded Iruka as well.

&-----------&

On the hospital bed, covered in multiple bandages, Iruka woke up.

&-----------------------------------------&

**(1) Read Adventure II: Training Time**

**(2) Can anyone guess what Kage just said?**

**(3) Can anyone guess who the voice/thought is? **

Seito: That's it for now! See two chapters from now!

Laer: ....... My turn....... pooie

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	8. Gone Again

Disclaimer: Since I don't remember what I write here, refer to past disclaimers

La/-/er- Hold on while I bury myself in a big pile of bad stuff in hopes that you guys won't say anything about how late this is...

**Review Responses:**

::tear:: Apologies, quite frankly, I'm feeling jittery right now. Although I do thank each and every one of you. And so does Seito. (Seito: -Nods in agreements-) Really. We had a reaction to each and every one of them. You know, smiles for those who needed smiles. Those that needed more thinking were thought provoking. Some gave me ideas too. So really, thanx, we appreciate every single one of them.

I still have time to type out everyone's penname though. :-P

Night-Owl123, ghostninja85, Lostlily, Yum, Aishiteru Duo(x2)( thanks for the info), RukaIayLomperGay, InuSaiyan (I'm hoping that things will start clearing up soon), Kutsu, Tiffyki, Pheox, Hikaru Tsukiyono, Shadow-Keeper0, sunhawk, me, izumi, moonlight2, Hitokiri, Youmahime, Aragornthia, Little Fox Kit (x2) (the thing about Sasuke, you'll have to ask Seito, she wrote the chapter...) Seito: Kage looks like Sasuke? Umm... that was not on purpose! –hits head against the wall, muttering- I really need to rethink how I make my characters...

And now that I've reread everyone's comments, we can continue. Thank you ever so much for what you said. Makes me think I should've just read your reviews to get inspiration. Awfully glad you guys think this story is interesting. Considering it's a result of our discovery that geniuses really **do** think alike... you're only confirming it, lol.

And to answer the question Seito asked, Kage said Baka mortal backwards, and yes, the voice is... Kyuubi. Hmm... Should I have told you that?

One more thing, I noticed that there were new reviewers! Welcome to the story and I hope you continue to like it!

Moments before I posted this, and after I read Seito's editing notes, I realized that there are a heck lot of fragments in the beginning of the chapter. Bear with me, but at the time, I was thinking that the thoughts running through their heads would not be particularly complete. If it bothers you though, you'll be glad to know that it's only for the first half of this chapter. And one last thing, this is mostly a filler chapter, so don't expect anything too grand, even though it's so late you probably would've expected something better... ::sigh::

-------------------

Without Life

-------------------

**Chapter VIII: Gone Again**

He walked, walked, walked. Paced up and down, left and right. Waiting, waiting. Waiting for what? Even he was not sure. But he had a feeling, knew that there was something. Something to do. There was something to look for, something to live for, something to....

He shot upright, gasping for breath.

Light, he remembered light, an angel? Or was it a demon? A being, an immortal being, a chance of life, renewal of...

A shout of alarm broke through his thoughts. Shaking his head, he looked up to see Shin pull a nurse into the room. Lightly chuckling at Shin's antics, his breath grew short before he fell back onto the bed once more.

No, not the bed, arms, warm strong arms. Feeling the safety, smelling the scent, he fell back into slumber once again.

---------

He paced the room, waiting for something to break. The tension he felt was unnerving, though the presence had gone some time ago. It was unsettling, the emotions, the sounds, the pounding. The beat of the heart, speeding and slowing with every thought, every shock of the apprehension running through his system.

He had to do something. Something... Leave? Perhaps that was a good idea. They were getting too close. We were getting hurt. We? No, they, pain, theirs. Always theirs. For how long? Why? Not now? Questions to answer, answers to create. Truth or fiction, lies or soul?

What is he going to choose? Who is he going to choose?

No help, no help from anyone. Why?

Why these emotions, why this urge? Why these memories? Why now? Why the pain? Why, why, why. Who do they think they are? No, no, no...

---------

He woke up slowly, in a haze. A haze of pain? No, a haze of comfort pulled over his eyes and ears, a layer of cotton, protecting him for the moment from the worst in life. For a moment, only peace.

A life he lived for, a life he hoped for, a family he wished for, in that moment, he felt he had it all.

And then he woke up.

Noises unnatural, bringing pain to his ears and pain to his heart. The cry of the town, the cry of the children. Pain? Why? No. No. Heat, he felt heat. Why?

Heat with a cry, a cry of pain, longing. A cry for the lost, a cry for the found.

No

NO

**NO**

THUD

"Owww."

"Why, hello there Iruka-kun. How does the floor feel? Better than my arms which you so rudely pulled at when you fell?"

The man on the floor blinked in confusion before looking up. For a second he saw nothing but gray and blue. Then a shift of his head allowed him to see the pair of mismatched eyes, at least, for a moment. An arm reached up to pull down the hitai-ate, and the other to pull up the turtleneck. Done in quick movements, Iruka wondered for only a moment what he was trying to hide. He understood of course, saw the concern that flashed through his eyes for a moment before they were gone once again; the twist of the mouth that said everything that would ever be needed to say.

But the emotions from his dreams still remained, the emotions that were not his still lingered. He remained on the floor, sitting restlessly as if he was a small child trying to understand, but not knowing what he was trying to understand. For a moment, the reason why he became a teacher became oh-so-clear, his ability to be the stern Iruka-sensei that the kids at the academy know and the teenager that he once was that everyone else knew.

In his pondering, he never noticed Kakashi becoming curious. Curious and curious, and then some, but in his opinion, the curiosity was lasting too long, so he gave up and decided to put him back on the bed.

Picking up Iruka and raising an eyebrow at the weird squeak that escaped the other man's lips, he placed him on the bed with a slight bounce. In his thoughts, a little bounce on the bed never hurt anyone.

Having forgotten that the person he just dropped was injured; he immediately became alarmed when Iruka suppressed a moan of pain.

With an unconscious- or so it seemed- drama, Kakashi hovered over Iruka in concern. It wouldn't be good to harm your already injured boyfriend after all.

---------

He hadn't figured out what to do. What to do?

Leave?

Leave?

Now?

Later?

When?

Goodbye? No, wait, why not? Friends? Right? Friends.

Yes, that is why. Yes. He must.

Go. Now. Later. Now.

Now.

Ignore the pain, follow her advice.

Have to follow her advice.

Must. Pain.

**NO.**

NO.

No.

no...

What?

---------

"Ne, Kakashi?"

"Hmm?"

"What happened to Shin?"

"Shin?"

"Yeah, he was here. Wasn't he?"

"Ah, he left, soon after Sasuke I believe."

"How long? How long was I asleep?"

"Not long, a day, less."

"Angel."

A tilt of the head. "Hmm?"

"I saw an angel. I had a choice. You, I chose you."

"You saw her? And she gave you a choice?"

"Yes, no. Wait."

"Shh, it's okay. You can think about it later."

"Shin... I thought I saw Shin. And then the angel... And then..."

"Quiet now, you need your rest. Keep up your strength. You will want to fight with us later on, right?"

"Fight? What? What fight?"

"The one that's coming. The one that I'll need to train you for."

Startled. "Train me for?!"

"It's something different. I would rather you not fight at all. But you will, you have to. I can't stop you. So I need to teach you. But for now, sleep. Sleep and rest. She won't give you another choice. Take what you can now."

A start of a protest.

"It's okay." Stroke of a hand. "It will stay. Don't worry. It will stay. I will stay. Just sleep."

A nod. A hand sneaks out. "We still have time, right?"

"All the time in the world."

"I still haven't, still haven't learned everything."

A teasing smile. "Of course you haven't."

"No. No, of you, I still have so much more to learn about you. Still need to know. Need to know why. Why I love you..."

A whisper, "I need to know too."

---------

The decision was made. He needed to leave before the fighting started. It was starting. She had told him, he hadn't listened, but he had to now... because he knew. She didn't want him to know, but he did. He found out.

And after what had just happened...

In order to protect them, protect him, he had to leave. Leave before he remembered. Because when he did, trouble will come.

In his memory lied the reason.

In his mind, laid a trap. A trap he did not know of, but a trap that will either kill him, or save him forever.

---------

"Iruka-sensei woke up!"

A child of ten years spoke cheerfully, spreading the news of his apparent joy with the highest volume possible. Within seconds, all the children in the vicinity had heard the news and each perked up to their own extent.

Quickly, little group was formed and plans were made.

They were going to visit Iruka-sensei.

Of course, first they had to figure out a way to leave the temporary academy building they were forced into in the beginning of the day. It would be hard, since there were extra teachers on duty; there had been extra teachers since the second fire, just in case something else would happen.

But they weren't Iruka's kids for nothing.

Children from the tiny ages of 7 to the "mature" ages of 14, their ranks ranged from starting students to those who failed to become a genin whom were trying again for just one more year.

Most of them, if not all had Iruka as their teacher at one time or another and despite his appearance, Iruka was not the strictest teacher in the academy. Well, perhaps he was, but in their mind, he was fun, and that was all that mattered.

And did we forget to mention that when we meant fun, we meant pranks?

Three

Two

One

"Aaaahhh!!!" A blood-curling scream arose from the teacher's bathroom; a few snickers traveled across the group before they became silenced.

Surprised expressions were pasted onto their faces, looks of innocence on some of the more... dutiful kids and looks of sadistic pleasure on those known to... dislike authority. All in all, when the teachers ran to the bathroom, backed out slowly and turned to the kids, there was no doubt in their mind what had happened.

So they ushered all the kids into one room and locked the doors.

Their minds were a little tender from the last two fires, so they couldn't really be blamed when they didn't notice the 'poof' from the bathroom and the 'ding' of a...

CRASH

A plan well made.

Rapidly erasing any discriminating traces of their actions, those who wanted to visit Iruka-sensei quickly left, while the few whom remained behind prepared to plead with the teachers.

After all, they had nothing to do with what had happened. Honestly. It was all the fault of those who had left. But you couldn't really blame them, could you? Oh no, they were only going to visit their beloved teacher.

So with an arsenal of sweetly coated words and cute, pitiful faces that one just wanted to gobble up, they succeeded quite well in making the teachers conveniently forget what had just transpired.

Not knowing, all the while, that the teachers had already known their plan and merely decided to play along.

Poor kids, and they thought they were so smart too.

---------

Meanwhile, a few streets over (it was that close), the kids had arrived at Iruka's hospital room. Only a few days had passed since the fire and so things were still a bit busy around the village. Although no one except for Iruka had been hurt, the village remained in a frenzy, on a high alert for anything that even smelled slightly wrong.

And so, it was actually a few more hours before the group of kids managed to maneuver their way towards their teacher's room.

Only to back out rather quickly moments later.

Thankfully, it was with great relief to all that the oldest of the group were at the head of the cluster, for what they had seen and heard were not to be appropriate for those of lesser... experiences.

After a few stumbling minutes, Iruka's voice rang out to invite the children into the room. The older children cautiously peeked into the room first, and soon deeming it safe to enter, bounced across the room to start excitedly babbling at the bedridden teacher.

The younger children came in soon after, offhandedly noticing Kakashi-sensei sitting at a corner in the room, looking rather pleased with himself.

For some reason though, his stance reminded the kids oddly of the positions they would take whenever Iruka-sensei ever got mad at them...

Hours later, mouths and gossip having been exhausted, the kids cheerily left the room, glad that their teacher was not in any extreme pain, nor did he have any lingering wounds. Having been told that he would return within days, they decided to wait ever so patiently for him to return. Which meant playing as much pranks as they could during those days as it seemed that Iruka-sensei was always the only one who was able to see through their tricks.

Not quite as true as they thought, but we shouldn't ruined their dreams.

Since the little people left rather quickly, in hopes of returning to the academy with at least _some_ time to spare before their parents went to pick them up, they never noticed the tired sigh that expelled from Iruka's lips.

"Tired?" Kakashi spoke lazily, as if not really caring whether or not the answer was affirmative. Iruka gave a noncommittal "hmm", before nodding off to sleep.

"I guess he was..."

A few minutes later, the door opened quietly to reveal Shin peeking through the door's crack. Eyes passing over the bed and seeing the sleeping occupant, he looked over to the other adult in the room and cocked his head in question.

"You just missed him. But if you come back in a couple of hours, he might be awake." Seeing Shin nod, Kakashi whipped out his book and began to read, seeming to be satisfied with only the book to pass the time.

Disappointed that he was unable to talk to Iruka, Shin shrugged slightly before leaving the room and returning to wander the town as he had been doing originally.

---------

Deciding that going back to Lee's house would be too tedious a task for the moment, (from where he was, it was across town) Shin continued to wander the streets of Konoha. Without a destination in mind, he managed to greet all the people he had met the past week or so, within the hour. Seeing the happy faces on the villagers, Shin sighed, wondering whether or not the villagers realized that though the village was on high alert, it would be simple for it to get attacked. Much too simple.

Brushing off the thought moments later, he picked up his head to look at the clear, blue skies. Spotting a bird, he began to walk the path that it flew. Part of the same world, yet the two creatures walked the exact same path in different ways. One was stuck on the ground, unable to reach the skies as the winged creature could. The other was flying freely in the air; the ground, while not inaccessible, dangerous to the creature.

Distracted by the bird and its elegant flight, he never noticed until it was too late that something had stood in his way.

Bumping into the stationary figure, Shin stumbled a bit, on the edge of his feet, moments away from falling. That is, before a hand reached out to grasp his waist along with his cloak, giving him the slight momentum he needed to regain his balance.

Blushing a bit, Shin bowed while muttering an apology.

"My apologies, I was not looking at the path I walked."

"On the contrary, I believe you were, just not the right one." A deep voice spoke, holding a moment of curiosity and amusement, before being brushed away by a wave of suspicion.

"I've been looking for you Shin, ever since you had left the hospital."

Curious to know whom he was speaking to, he moved his head back up to meet the sight of a scantily clad Uchiha Sasuke.

At that moment, he realized how hot it was, and wished that his cloak and scarf was not really necessary. _If only Hotaru was here..._

Blinking in surprise, he cocked his head and replied, "Why would you be looking for me? Didn't you leave before I did?"

Sasuke looked away, glancing at the trees surrounding the two, then, for some reason, he changed the topic, "How did you manage to avoid all the trees in this area, but not me?"

Shin was startled by the abrupt change of subject, but nevertheless, he replied to the seemingly random question, "Fate, I suppose," he smiled bitterly, as if remembering another time when Fate was not so kind...

Speaking again, Sasuke returned their conversation back to the original topic. Shin frowned a little, wary of what Sasuke was doing, but regardless of his surface thoughts, there was the lingering feeling that it mattered not what truth he told Sasuke, he was safe to trust. Juggling his thoughts, his answer came out stuttered, causing Sasuke to narrow his eyes at him.

"I was... I was walking around the town for a little while. I just went to the hospital to visit Iruka. But he was, um... asleep." He trailed off, not sure if there was really anything to add.

For a beat, there was only silence. A breeze blew though the area where the two stood, neither speaking, questions festering. Finally, Sasuke spoke what had been on his mind for some time.

Bluntly and with a purpose, "What did you have to do with the fire?"

A bewildered look crossed Shin's face, _How does he..._, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Uchiha-san." The bewildered expression never left his face, but inside he was thinking quickly. _There's no way he can know. Wait... What am I so worried about?_

"You can't deny it Shin, I saw you standing in the middle of the building. I saw the chakra flare. I saw-" Sasuke broke off, staring past Shin's shoulder. "I saw her."

Blinking, Shin turned around only to see something that he never expected.

((Hotaru?! What are you doing here?))

$$You called me. But perhaps I should've spoken to you first...$$

At her words, Shin's head snapped back towards Sasuke, who continued to look at the spot where Hotaru was at the moment... perhaps even right at her...

"Uchiha-san? You don't by any chance... see someone there, do you?"

"I'm not blind Shin. What else would I be looking at?"

"Ah..."

((Perhaps it would be best, onee-san, if...))

"It doesn't matter. He knows something." Hotaru said sternly, a frown marring her face. She walked towards the Uchiha, silently assessing him. Her thoughts scattered for a moment, before clarity shown through. "You have--"

"Yes, I do. That is why I can see you. That is why you and your kind cannot hide."

"From you though. Only from you."

"Perhaps. I do not know."

Shin listened with confusion threatening to take over. _What in the world are they talking about?_ Realizing the confused presence of Shin, Hotaru brushed over the conversation, speaking directly to Shin.

"Why did you call me?" There was a hint of harshness in her tone that came unexpectedly and Shin reeled back from it.

Mind blanking out for a moment, Shin was silent before answering, "I didn't do it on purpose." He snarled, lashing back from the hurt of being treated as if he was a common mortal.

A sigh was heard and Hotaru shook her head slowly, then turned to Sasuke. "Even if you decide to ask, we won't answer." She stared at the boy steadily, but realized that there was no point. She rose, floating a few scant inches above the ground. "Do not say I didn't warn you, Sasuke-kun. Be careful of how you go about."

Hotaru nodded to the boy and left without a word to Shin.

Sasuke opened his mouth, but before a word was uttered, Shin shot him a startled look.

In the few moments that he was able to connect to his sister, he felt the emotions warring in her. It scared him. Hotaru was always calm. But something was affecting, deeper than anything he had ever seen from her. Quite frankly, he trusted Hotaru. And if this is what happened... maybe he should really listen to her. Just this once.

But the emotions were not the only thing he was able to sense. In that moment of turmoil, Shin was able to break through her defenses, and now he knew what she knew.

Without a word, he also left, leaving Sasuke confused and frustrated. But without any protest, he allowed him to leave.

---------

It was time. The emotions that plagued both Hotaru and himself will be settled.

He left.

With nary a look back.

Without a sound.

And without a trace.

Once again.

To Be Continued...

La/-/er- I don't have anything to say, as a Black Jack game is going on and I'm stealing time away from it to finish this up. So apologies, at this very end for the lack of review responses. I'll get back to it when it's my turn again.

And on a last note, I **was** winning, now I'm losing, not as bad as my mother though, lol. Now, suddenly, I'm winning again... huh.

And btw, we did originally plan for Shin to leave this chapter and have Seito start to explain most of your answers to the questions.

Seito: How am I going to do this? I'll see you guys next chapter! :P

Please Review!


	9. Answers and Questions

Mesa no own Naruto.

Seito: Hello peeps! It's five minutes to 1 in the morning and I'm here writing these notes and finishing up the chapter for you. (just in case you're wondering, I write my notes after I finish writing the chapter) Aren't you guys lucky? And lookie it only took me a week! I swear, I love writing for you guys waaaaaayyyy to much. I should be using this time to do homework. **Warning!! We're talking overload of information in this chapter!! We apologize!! We threw in Seika again!**

**Review Response**

Wah! So little reviews!!

**To Firehedgehog**

O.O It's you!!!! -faints. Hotaru pokes Seito- Hotaru: She's out cold… Seika: What did you expect? Firehedgehog is one of her favorite authors. Hotaru: Let's see Seito left a note. 'Thank you for reviewing! Can't wait for your next update! –Seito'

**To ghostninja85**

-Wakes up- Is one week soon enough? (Actually it's a little over a week since FF. net had that update.) I enjoyed the chibi scene too. We also got to answer some of the questions you (it was you right?) asked earlier. You'll see went you get there. –whispers- La/-/er updated DR have you read it yet?

**To Yum**

Sasuke didn't stop Shin because I needed Sasuke not to stop him! Actually I don't know the real reason but somehow Sasuke was suppose to let Shin leave. (La/-/er- ::cough:: I was supposed to do something about that... but at the time, I couldn't find a good enough reason) The reason why Sasuke let Shin leave will be explained in this chapter.

**To animelvr4evr**

Yeah, the last chapter was a bit confusing but if you don't read carefully though this chapter, I promise you'll be even more confused.

**To everyone else who reviewed**

THANK YOU!!!!!!

(Note from La/-/er: I see that everyone is a bit confused about the chapter. I'm suspecting it's mostly from the beginning and the end, the middle is pretty clear, no? Well, except for a few comments here and there... Anyway, as you could've seen from the last chapter, the first few pages were separated into a lot of sections. The first was in Iruka's POV, right when he first woke up. The second section is a bit messed up, but it was **supposed** to be Shin a little while after talking to Sasuke (this would be a lot of time after Iruka woke up in the first section), but I forgot I did this ::sweatdrop:: making Shin leave right after. But basically, Shin was wondering if he should really leave, and instead of being able to go back to Lee's house, he did it within a split second. Third section is Iruka in the "present" and fourth is Shin in the same time frame as the second, changed from being in his room to the split second Shin decided to leave. The fifth section was Iruka talking to Kakashi, but his words are weird since he's still confused about what happened in his "dream". A few things in here prolly didn't make sense to you, but that's on purpose. Whew... the sixth section is Shin again, and you definitely shouldn't be able to understand anything except the part where he decided to leave, since at the time, I didn't understand it myself. The rest is self-explanatory. I was originally going to put this note at the end of my chapter, but I didn't want to wait another day to post it, which is what I would've done if I put it in as I uploaded the chapter when I was supposed to be sleeping.

Now even if you didn't just read that really, really, really long note, I'm telling to all you people out there that a lot of the things that you were confused about in my chapter was a result of me rushing, so I'll promise that I won't do that again. On the other hand... Seito's not rushing... so I can guarantee that if you're confused... you're supposed to be.)

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_Without Life_

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**Chapter IX**

**Answers and Questions**

-------------------

Shin walked through the forest that helped marked the territory of Konohagakure. Leaving Konoha was an easy task, leaving with the fact that he didn't say goodbye was what was eating at him. Walls couldn't stop him, regret could.

Shin closed his eyes, trying to focus his thoughts. Even though she was miles away, he could still feel the lingering emotions that continued to war in his sister. Knowing that something was troubling Hotaru in turn troubled him. There was little that could truly bother Hotaru.

The trees cast their shadows onto the ground and the dead leaves made a crunching sound as Shin trended over them. The thick foliage around him offered much shade but little concealment. It was growing late as the shadows began to grow longer. The bright sun traveled closer and closer to the horizon.

Shin turned his thoughts away from Hotaru, and towards his own problems. While his mind was still a bit numb to how Hotaru reacted to him subconsciously calling her and how Sasuke could see her, he had to focus on Kage. That man… he was always one step ahead of Shin, ahead of Hotaru (that alone was an impressive feat). Somehow Kage knew… but what was he planning? All this time, if Kage truly just wanted to kill him, he would have done that already. After all, there were more than one opportunity to kill him. Still… it was like everything was just one big game and Shin was merely a pawn and Kage was the game master.

Then there was the matter of Konoha…

During his short stay there, he had grown attached to the village. Unlike anywhere else he had traveled to, he felt comfortable there. It was like a home… Even though he was a stranger, people greeted him with warm welcomes. Shin had found himself making friends and for once, found himself living a normal life. Then Kage came and ruined it. Now, once again, Shin was forced to leave something he loved behind and continue on his journey to find Kage.

With his heart was heavy with regret, his mind convinced that no one will truly missed him; Shin didn't expect to be followed…

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In a place where you could consider it a parallel dimension, Hotaru flopped onto her bed, exhausted. Her room, if that's what you would call it, was plain. It contained only her gray bed and a few other pieces of furniture. Trinkets were stored away in places you could call dimensional pockets so that they would not take up space. The room didn't seem to have a beginning or end as no walls could be seen, nor a door. The color of the room seem to reflect what Hotaru was feeling. It was painted a royal purple color as depression, apprehension, anger and frustration warred inside of her.

Several factors were making her feel that way.

Shin was unhappy and miserable and Hotaru hated seeing her little brother like that

Kage still couldn't be found

She still couldn't find out how Kage escaped in the first place

Kyuubi was annoying her like crazy

The thought of another village/person suffering because of the journey Shin and she were on was troubling her

Hotaru breathed deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. Warring emotions often gotten her in trouble in the past. That was reason why she always tried to remain calm and in control. Losing control was something she didn't want to do and she was pretty sure the world didn't want a massacre or a war in their hands.

-----------

Sasuke leaped from the branch to branch. He made a mistake of letting Shin leave without answering his questions. Now the boy had disappeared, apparently having left the village. Sasuke, on the other hand, wasn't about to let the boy walk away without getting some answers. There was just something about him…

Fate seemed to smile upon the Uchiha boy as he discovered the person he was looking for just a few yards ahead of him. "Shin!"

----------

Miles away in a dark room, bright crimson red eyes snapped open. That aura… the boy had left his comfort zone and returned to the road again. "_Noinim wodahs._" From the shadows, five dark shapes raced away and towards the direction of the one they seeked. They moved like sharks did through water, passing through rocks and trees as if they were not there.

A sinister smirk graced his face. Yes… like a puppet master controlling his puppets he would make sure that the boy and the ones he cared about suffered…

After all… a blow to the boy was in turn a mental wound to her…

-----------

"Shin!"

Shin turned around quickly. His red and blue eyes widened in shock as he recognized who it was. He did not expect Sasuke to follow him. In fact, he was sure that no one would notice his disappearance until tomorrow morning when Lee discovered that his guest had not returned home or found the letter Shin left behind explaining his disappearance.

Sasuke jumped down from the tree branch and landed on the ground with a light 'thud'. "I want some answers, Shin," he stated calmly.

Shin turned away, knowing that anything he told Sasuke would only hurt the dark haired boy in the long run. "As Hotaru said, even though you ask, I won't answer." Shin began to continue his path away from Konoha.

However, Sasuke wasn't about to give up. "Who exactly is Hotaru? Who are you really, Shin? Explain!"

Shin remained silent.

Sasuke surprised himself as he began to feel angry. Anger was something he knew. Something he knew very well when he was younger. After all it was the only thing he felt beside hatred. But he had detached himself from his emotions for so long, to feel something like anger again was surprising. Very surprising. However, Sasuke had also grown wiser and knowing that anger would never get him the answers he seeked, he bit his tongue and turned away his anger. He would try a different approach to receive the answers he hunted for.

"Until a year ago, a Snow Shinobi lived in Konoha. She ran a weapons shop which I visited it everyday. She used to tell me all sorts of legends and myths. One that stands out was her belief that Life and Death were angels of opposite kinds. She even suggested that they were one being. I thought it was a silly idea until that night I heard Iruka-sensei was hurt." Sasuke noted that Shin tensed a bit as he spoke of that night. He continued on with his story, "I saw a black angel, exactly as that Snow Shinobi described. I also saw Hotaru approach you after the first fire was put out and I saw her again before you left. That black angel, Death, that was Hotaru, right?"

Shin froze completely. Not realizing that his body language was pretty much confirming Sasuke's suspicion, Shin turned to face Sasuke. "What makes you think that, Uchiha-san?" asked Shin. He still didn't understand how Sasuke was even able to see Hotaru in the first place.

"There's a resemblance to the black angel and Hotaru. With the exception that one wing was white and the hair and eye color was different, Hotaru and Death looked alike. Hotaru has brown hair and purple eyes with one white wing and one black wing. Death on the other hand, has black hair, red eyes, and both wings are black. So unless Hotaru has identical twin, they are probably one in the same." Sasuke didn't miss a beat as he explained his theory.

Behind his scarf, Shin smirked. "In the end, it doesn't matter. What you say is just words and you don't have any evidence to back it up." Sasuke bit his lip, knowing it was true. Shin decided to turn the tables and ask a question. "They say you only see the black angel after you have died. Those who have seen her and lived to tell the tale are either extremely lucky or have Death or Fate's blessing. Somehow I doubt you fall into one of those categories. Care to explain how you could see her and Hotaru?"

Sasuke already knew the answer to that one and he had Seika to thank for that. Seika apparently read too many legends and myths in her free time. "It was another legend that the Snow Shinobi told me. She said that there used to be a race of beings whom could remain invisible to humans. They were immortals, but to my understanding they could still die. She said there were only three types of eyes that could see those immortal beings, even if they were invisible: Immortal Eyes, Demon Eyes, and God Eyes. Every being of that race possessed Immortal Eyes; they could see their own kind no matter what. Demon Eyes belonged to the demons that roamed the world, though only the strongest of the demons could see the beings. God Eyes were like Demon Eyes, the only difference was that humans possessed God Eyes and only a select few humans could see that race. I believe that I fall under the God Eyes category."

Shin's eyebrow rose. That was something new. He would definitely ask Hotaru about that one when he saw her again. He probably possessed Demon Eyes because of Kyuubi. Nevertheless, Shin began to walk away. Nightfall was approaching and that was the most dangerous time to be out. Kage lived up to his name well, being a master of shadows as well as fire.

As soon as Shin finished that thought, mental alarms went off in his head.

Danger!

Danger!

Danger!

Right on cue, five black shapes came racing towards Sasuke and Shin. Fins projected out like shark fins that cut through the water. "Uchiha-san get out of here!" warned Shin. Sasuke didn't move, shocked at what was happening. Luckily, he snapped out of it just in time to jump out of the way. However, as soon as Sasuke landed a few feet away, one of the black blots leapt up from the ground, took the shape of a rabid bulldog and leapt towards Sasuke. Sasuke managed to plant a single punch into the stomach of the black bulldog and sent it flying. But as soon as the black dog came into contact with the tree, it took the form of a shapeless blot again and speeded towards Sasuke.

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Meanwhile, Hotaru's eyes snapped opened as she felt a tremendous amount of shadow magic in the forest surrounding Konoha.

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Shin grabbed Sasuke and suddenly Sasuke found himself surrounded by a ring of fire. There was a flash of light and suddenly Sasuke found himself near the edge of a river, miles away from the area they were just in. "Shin, what's going on?" demanded Sasuke. Shin didn't answer. Instead he took to the treetops. Sighing, Sasuke began to follow.

A few trees later, Shin stopped. Realizing that Sasuke was still following him, Shin knew he had to make a decision. It was too dangerous to sent Sasuke back, not when those black blots had his scent. At the same time it was too dangerous for Sasuke to continue travel with him. Shin weighed his options. He would rather have Sasuke travel with him rather then send the Uchiha boy back to the village, where he and the rest of the village were vulnerable to an attack.

"Shin, what is going on?" repeated Sasuke.

Again Shin didn't answer him, continuing to mumble under his breath. "There are five of them… At the speed they were going they'll find us in no time. I could take on all five of them, but then the matter of Uchiha-san." Sasuke considered hitting Shin on the head for ignoring him. It was too bad that he didn't have enough time to do that as those black shapes were back.

Shin began to panic. "Uchiha-san, is there any place near here that doesn't have too many shadows, like a clearing?" They needed to get away from the shadows. Shadow Magic grew stronger around darkness. A clearing would hold the least amount of shadows.

Sasuke blinked, surprised at the question. "There isn't one too far from here," he said.

"How far? I need the exact amount. A few feet off is okay, a rough estimate of miles will do," said Shin urgently.

Sasuke looked around him, trying to get his bearings. "I say about six and half miles from here," he estimated.

"Good." A ring of fire surrounded them again. Moments later, they were standing on the edge of the clearing.

Sasuke looked towards Shin. Shin was panting slightly as he tried to catch his breath. Teleporting took a lot out of him and teleporting two people was a strain. "How did you do that," asked Sasuke. Once again Shin didn't answer him. Beads of sweat ran down his face as Shin wiped it away. He was concentrating on the approaching blots.

"Be ready for anything," Shin finally said. "Those creatures will be back. I only bought us a little bit of time to separate the distance."

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Hotaru reappeared in the skies above Konoha. She peered off into the different directions, trying to locate Shin. It shouldn't be that hard. After all, Shin's aura was like a red supernova that stood out like a shinning star. 'There,' she thought to herself. Another gust of wind blew and she vanished again.

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Sasuke jumped away from another black blot. The only thing that seemed to have an effect on them was his fire jutsu. Other than that, they just passed through anything as if it wasn't there or didn't do any real damage. "What are these things?" he asked himself.

Apparently Shin heard him and gave him an answer for once. "They're Shadow Minions. It's a type of spell. They're similar to the creatures you shinobi summon, sort of. It's hard to explain. They hate the light and grow stronger in the shadows. The more light and the less shadows there are, the weaker they are.. Fire jutsu are probably the best way to deal with these creatures." Shin kicked one of the Shadow Minions. "Uchiha-kun, get back."

Sasuke, a little confused at the order, jumped away from the black shadow. His eyes widened as he watched a red glow surround Shin's hands. The glow grew brighter and brighter until it resembled a flame that danced with the wind. It was as if he was holding fire in his hands. The fire reflected in Shin's eyes, making them look as if they were completely blood red.

Shin made the motion of drawing a circle in front of him with his left hand. The red glow outlined the circle that Shin just drew. Shin placed his right hand in the center of the circle. "_Ni'uh naol iaf_,**(1)**" whispered Shin.

From the circle, a dragon made out of fire appeared, rising like a snake coming out of a basket. Its impressive size, heat, and light caused the shadow minions to pause. Suddenly the dragon flew towards the shadow minions, engulfing them in a ring of flames. That ring grew into a sphere that covered the shadow minions completely. Then the sphere dispersed, leaving nothing but dying embers behind.

Unfortunately, the fire dragon didn't get all of the shadow minions. Two remained. To make matters even worse, Shin suddenly just collapsed.

Shin had a grim look as he watched the two remaining shadow minions attack Sasuke. 'Looks like I used my energy a little too fast,' thought Shin to himself. How many times had Hotaru warned him of something like this?

Speaking of Hotaru…

Sasuke dodged another attack. However, before he could retaliate, the shadow minions froze in midair. Sasuke looked at the ground. A black star was holding them place. He looked up in the air to see Death floating in the air. He saw threads running from her hand to the trapped shadow minions. Using her other hand, she snapped the threads as if it were a brittle twig.

Instantly, the shadow creatures burst into thousands of pieces. Death floated to the ground and landed in front of Sasuke. She looked at him for a moment before turning her gaze towards Shin who managed to sit up. "I swear, you're going to kill yourself one day if you keep doing that," she said in a monotone voice.

Shin struggled to get to his feet. "You always say that," he mumbled. Sasuke could only stare. He still didn't have a single clue to what was going on. Death's gaze turned towards Sasuke once more. "You didn't listen did you? I believe the saying is, you're so goddamn stubborn."

Her eyes never left Sasuke as her next statement was addressed to Shin. "You might as well tell him everything. He's already in way over his head. Right now, him not knowing is more dangerous than telling him." Shin nodded in agreement.

Death waved her hand. Instantly, a black ring appeared on the ground, glowing slightly. As if there was an invisible chair floating beneath her, Death took a seat. Shin gave up trying to stand, and resumed his sitting position. Sasuke took a seat on the ground as well. He watched Death with a wary look. What he didn't expect, was for her to glow. Black melted into sun-kissed brown, crimson red turned amethyst purple, one black wing turned white; in Death's place now sat Hotaru.

Sasuke didn't say anything. Heck, he didn't even blink. "I trust you will not speak of what you hear and see to anyone," said Hotaru. Sasuke nodded. Who would believe him?

"There are many people who would believe you," said Hotaru.

That got a reaction from Sasuke. 'Did she just-'he thought.

"Read your mind," finished Hotaru. "Yes. I have minor telepathy. I can only read a person's mind if they are standing right next to me or if I had bonded with them." That was a bit of a lie, but she wasn't about to explain why she could hear his thoughts so clearly. It wasn't her fault that he was practically broadcasting his thoughts out loud.

Hotaru shot a look towards Shin. Shin nodded, took a deep breath and started what was going to be a very long explanation. "Your earlier theory about Hotaru and Death being one in the same, Uchiha-san, is correct. Any other questions you want answered?" asked Shin.

That was Sasuke's signal and he made plans to take full advantage to the offer. "Well, first I want to hear more about Hotaru and her kind. I've been told the stories and legends but I still don't know much about it," said Sasuke.

Hotaru rolled her eyes. Of course, should've seen that one coming. Looking at her little brother, she could already see him squirming to find a way to answer the question. "I'll field this one, Shin," she said much to Shin's relief. "It's not like you paid any attentions to the history lessons in the first place," Hotaru continued with a smirk on her face. Shin shot a glare at her for the comment.

Ignoring it, Hotaru returned her attention back to Sasuke. "I suppose a bit of an introduction is required. I am Hotaru, better known as the Angel of Life and Death. I come from a race called _Slatrommi_, Immortals in your language. As your friend told you, my kind can die, but time and sickness have little effect on us," said Hotaru. After taking a quick look into Shin's memory (despite Shin's protest), Hotaru knew how much the black haired boy knew about her and her race.

Hotaru continued with her tale. "Unfortunately a Great War that took place eons ago nearly wiped out my entire race. In this era there are seven of my kind left, myself included. _Slatrommi_ were gifted with magic. The type of magic was divided into two categories: Nature Elemental and Cosmos Elemental. Nature Elemental is magic that involves nature." She made a gesture towards Shin. "Shin is Fire Elemental. Fire falls under his control. Shin, however, is human. I'll explain why he can wield fire magic later. Cosmos Elemental is magic that involves space and the unexplainable. I'm a Cosmos Elemental. Life and Death are my powers. Another type of Cosmos magic would be things like the stars or Time and Fate."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. Sounds simple enough. Of course usually when something sounds simple, it ends up a complicated mess.

"This is where the magic beings to become complicated. Even though I control Life and Death and its balance, if I were to die, the cycles of Life and Death would continue. However for a Nature Elemental, they are directly tied to their element. If an Air/Wind Elemental dies, it is said that the wind refuses to blow for many days. However, if the air becomes polluted, like with smoke, the Air _Slatrommi_ weakens. Do you understand what I'm saying?" asked Hotaru. She didn't want to spend all her time trying to explain how magic work. Thinking about it, gave her a headache alone.

"Yeah, the general gist of it," said Sasuke. Shin continued to remain silent, having hear this explanation many times before.

"Good," said Hotaru. "Because I'm going to stop here. The detailed history of my race is way too long to go on explaining."

"So how is Shin able to use fire magic and who are the other _Slatrommi_?" asked Sasuke.

Hotaru let out a sigh. "Like the God's Eyes, there were a few humans would could control magic. Shin possesses fire magic, a gift that was thought to have been lost for ages. Oh, and by the way Uchiha-san, it's true you possess the God Eyes. However, you received this gift not because you were chosen by Fate, but because of your Sharingan. Apparently, your family's blood limit also contained the trait of the God Eyes. No one of your family realized this because there haven't been any Immortals around to see. As for the other _Slatrommi_, wellm don't concern yourself with them as you probably will never meet them."

Suddenly the thought of Itachi crossed Sasuke's mind. If the Sharingan was the reason why he could see Hotaru that meant Itachi… Hotaru's eyebrow rose as she saw a flash of panic gleam in Sasuke's eyes for a brief moment. She paused and thought about what could have caused it.

'Ah yes, his brother,' she mused to herself. She had several run-ins with the older Uchiha. Not that he knew who she was, but she was the reason why Shin had never run into Itachi. She loved sending Itachi and his partner on wild goose chases. It was quite fun.

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Usuyuki Sai pushed open the cold metal gates that led to his family's house. Well that is, if you would call it a house. It could be considered a mansion. But that was expected seeing who Sai was. (Not that anyone truly cares).

"Back from the exam already? Who did you lose to?"

Sai glared at the speaker. "None of your business, Seika."

Seika smirked. "It doesn't matter. I'll find out eventually, little cousin," she teased. "Anyways, the Yukikage wants to see you. I should warn you little cousin. Grandfather wants to hear every single detail." Her voice, while sounding sugary sweet, sang with the delight that Sai was going to be in trouble for once. It was her fault for being the weak link in the family. If Grandfather hadn't called her back, she would have been content with selling weapons in Konoha. But no, family failure or not, Grandfather had to call her back home for god-knows-what reasons.

Sai just grumbled and pushed past his older cousin, leaving Seika out in the snow by herself. Seika rolled her eyes and began to close the gate. She paused and blinked. She could have sworn she just saw two black dots with red clouds. Seika shook her head. It had to be the incoming blizzard playing tricks on her mind. No one in their right mind would be out there. A huge snowstorm was coming and not even the strongest of Shinobi could survive it.

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"So, do you know how the fire started and why they were after Iruka-sensei and the Tamashii family?" asked Sasuke.

Both Shin and Hotaru froze at the question. That was something they were not prepared to answer. Not that they wanted to answer that question in the first place. The easiest way out of this, lie.

"No," said Shin.

Unfortunately for them, Sasuke isn't fooled that easily. His eyebrow rose and his face held a look that said I-don't-believe-you.

((Uchiha-san isn't going to make this easy is he?))

$$I'm afraid not.$$

((Do we really have to tell him?))

$$If you want.$$

((You want me to tell him.))

$$I didn't say such a thing.$$

((But you're implying it.))

$$You made plans to make sure he travels with you, right? Kage will use this to his advantage but you certainly can't send him back Konoha. He knows too much.$$

((There is still the matter of Konoha…))

$$Mother sent Chi to watch over Konoha for the time being. If something comes up, she'll tell us.$$

((Isn't Chi a bit young to do that?))

$$ She's older than you. Oh, and Uchiha-san is sending us strange looks.$$

Sasuke's eyebrow rose even higher. It was obvious those two were having a conversation yet not a single word was being said. It was probably that telepathy thing Hotaru was talking about earlier. It did explain why Shin sometimes had a look on his face that seemed like he was miles away. Though his scarf did help to shield that look.

"Well?" asked Sasuke.

Even with his scarf, Shin looked nervous. He was hiding something, but Sasuke didn't know what.

"You might as well tell him what's going on. It's not like he can hear us, my spell prevents that," said Hotaru. She made a gesture towards the black ring that surrounded them. "If he's going to be traveling with you, he has to know for his own sake."

Shin let out a heavy sigh. "The one responsible for the fires is the man… creature I search for. He's a master of shadows and fire. He's name is Kage, he's an immortal like Hotaru but from a different race, _Segak_. He's also the one who sent those black blots after us. To put it shortly, he wants me dead but nly after he kills everyone I care about first. Kage is a creature of Shadows."

Sasuke blinked. A creature of shadows…? "Why are you searching for him?" asked Sasuke.

A spark of weariness appeared in Shin's eyes. "He's the one who took my memory Uchiha-san. I'd rather not discuss it." Sasuke glanced at Hotaru, surprised to find her looking away.

Suddenly, day and night met for brief moments. The transition between the two took place. As the sun breathed its last breath for the day, Hotaru's wings appeared. "It grows late. I have things to do. I trust you two will be alright for the evening." It was more of a statement than a question. Shin nodded.

Hotaru gave her little brother a soft, small smile. "Call if you need anything, otouto." There was a gust of wind and she was gone.

Sasuke blinked. "Otouto?" he asked. He looked at Shin.

Shin just gave a mysterious smile behind his mask. "She just started calling me that one day. It fits though, seeing as that I see her as an older sister."

"So how did she suddenly disappear like that?" asked Sasuke, pointing to the vacant area that Hotaru was just floating in.

Shin half shrugged. "She explained it to me once, but I still don't quite understand. Apparently she has this breeze that's follows her around. Not only does it keep her cool, but it also helps her to teleport from place to place. Apparently her boyfriend gave it to her," said Shin.

Sasuke just blinked again. Before he could ask anything else, Shin spoke again, "We better get going. We have to make camp since it's too dangerous to head to a village. Kage might attack us again. Sorry Uchiha-san, but it looks like you'll be traveling with me for awhile." Behind his scarf, Shin gave a small grin.

Sasuke stared before realizing why Shin said that. 'Of course, I know too much. This Kage guy probably knows that I'm with Shin. Sending me back to Konoha will only leave me and the village open for attack.' Sasuke nodded in understanding.

Shin held out his hand to help Sasuke up from the floor. It seemed Shin had recovered from his battle. Sasuke, surprisingly, accepted the help up. Shin pulled Sasuke up with ease. "Let's get started on our journey, ne, Uchiha-san?" said Shin. His eyes curled up. This journey shall be very interesting.

Sasuke smiled a small smile. Looks like he didn't have much of a choice. "Yeah," he said.

-------------------

From her room, Hotaru watched the two leave from a watching glass. A neutral expression played on her face and she made no movement or sound when someone entered her room.

"_Shin htiw gnilevart ton er'ouy?_" (You're not traveling with Shin?)

"_flesmih fo nac yrehtorb,_" said Hotaru. (Younger brother can take of himself.)

There was a brief moment of silence as both seemed to contemplate what to say next. "You want Shin to remember, don't you? You've done all you can to help him remember, so you're hoping spending time with that Uchiha boy will jog his memory. Am I right?"

"You read too much into this, _evol_," said Hotaru. The look in her eyes sharpened. "Shin is Naruto, we both know that. I'm just merely setting the stage for the next act…"

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fai loan hu'in ('flying dragon ring') La/-/er provided that little spell. (La/-/er- It's cantonese, just in case anyone's wrecking their brains trying to figure this out)

Seito: So is everyone confused yet? You should be. I just dumped a lot of information on you guys and still brought more questions. I think that's it. –yawn- too tired to remember. Anyways…

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	10. First Stop and Then Some

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to people under 20 years old and guess how old I am.

QY- For those of you who want to kill me, you can line up and wait for your turn when the chapter is over. Meanwhile, think about what you want to say when you review ::nudge nudge:: And I swear I was going to update at the beginning of last week. But then I remembered I have midterms. And I still do. So I should be studying. But too much math/physics hurts my brain...

Oh yeah, and it seems I was right the first time, there will be a total of 4... well, 6 OCs in this story. 3 will be main characters, you've met two already, the other will come this chapter and the other three will be mentioned and will come in once in a while, some more than others, one of which you'll see in this chapter as well. **However**, as is Seito's policy, should you ever feel they are turning into Mary Sues or Gary Stus, do not hesitate to inform us. We will rectify this immediately. Either by taking them out completely or, if it is only small things, change 'em. The first choice is more likely though... (Seito: -Nod-)

**Review Responses:**

_**Thanks to everyone for reading including:**_

**_ghostninja85-_** Glad that questions were answered. And yeah... totally working hard on chapter 10. Now anyway.

**_Narutofreak22-_** Hasn't revealed himself yet, but he will soon. Has to sometime, they are traveling together. (later) Ha, whattaya know. It seems that it happens in this chapter. Here you go!

**_Kyuubi-kun-_** Most people prolly figured out Shin was Naruto. We just wanted someone to actually say it. Lol, you were sad that you understood. It wasn't soon, but it allowed me to write this slightly better than my previous chaps so... eh.

**NightOwl123**, annika, , insanechildfanfic, **Firehedgehog**, Shepherd,** animelvr4evr**

**_Yum-_** Complications make the world go round. Unfortunately, it's been two months, but er... I have courage?

**_akuma-river-_** Um.. okay, if you say so. Kage wants to kill Shin/Naruto only after he kills everyone close to him because not only will it hurt him mentally and emotionally, there's a chance Shin might decide to just give up. And when Shin gets hurt, Hotaru gets hurt. You know, brother/sister thing and all. Kage took his memory because... You can answer this for me, Seito, hehe. Seito: Kage didn't take Shin's memory, it's more like amnesia. Shin says Kage took his memory because Kage is the last person who Shin remembers so Shin figures Kage knows who he used to be and that Kage is the reason that Shin doesn't remember.

**_izumi-_** But you do understand now, right? And I'm Chinese, but Seito isn't. She's another Asian-type person though. Seito: Full blood Japanese and proud of it!

I feel some bias in the reviewers... I'm kidding. Really. I am.

* * *

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Without Life

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**Chapter X: First Stop and Then Some**

For a moment, for a beat in time, he allowed his hand to stay within the other's grasp, but the suspicion he still had proved to be too strong and so he pulled away, sharply, but with care. Shin glanced back, startled at the movement before looking down at his hand. Laughingly, he brushed off the event with a curious reply, "Sorry, I didn't realize I was still holding your hand." A curious reply because something within Sasuke knew that the follow-up – should Shin have continued - would've been to say, _"It felt right"_. A cliché that appeared in just about every romance novel in the world, it was not a phrase to be spoken at the moment, in this time. But somehow, it lingered between the two of them and the very air hung heavy with the awkward silence.

Of course, there was a thought that the heavy air just _might_ have been the work of someone Shin knew quite well.

"Uchiha-san, do you know if there's another clearing around here?" Shin glanced around as if he could somehow see through all the trees blocking his vision and for an instant it seemed as if he really could. But then he turned back to look at Sasuke questioningly, waiting for his answer.

In response, Sasuke looked to the moon and then to the rest of the sky, "There should be one not too far away from this clearing."

"Can we walk there before it gets too dark?" A concerned tone was apparent in Shin's voice and it revealed just how worried he was.

Refraining from asking what it was that worried him so much - because he kind of knew, didn't he? - Sasuke nodded in a distracted way soon adding on a verbal response. "If we went at our fastest pace and taking into account how tired you are, there should be no problem. But there seems to be something... near us."

"Near?" Shin looked up and around before realizing that it was pretty pointless. With a sigh, he prepared to spread out a net as he had done so weeks before, but he was stopped by his sister's voice.

$$Don't worry otouto, it's just me.$$

((And your lover boy, no doubt.))

There was a pause between the two before a scandalized gasp sounded, /Shin! I can't believe you just called me that!/

((Believe it, lover boy.))

/Haha, missed you buddy./

((Yeah, you too.))

Shin's gaze shifted and something seemed to 'click' in his eyes before he turned to Sasuke. "Don't worry, it's just my sister and her-" His next words seemed to have literally been carried off in the winds for even though Sasuke saw the outline of his jaws shifting, he did not hear the actual words themselves.

_'Curious.'_ But the thought disappeared soon after.

"I guess we better start moving if we want to make it." Shin straightened out his back, stretching a little to release the tension that had popped up after the battle.

There was a nod from Sasuke before he led both of them off to the northeast.

The night was still and quiet, providing little distraction to the thoughts that ran through the two teenagers' minds. They had found the clearing that Sasuke was referring to and deciding that it was the best place to stop at for the night, they settled in and prepared to rest their weary bodies before tomorrow's journey.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if their minds didn't want to rest. Both of them sat against the trees edging the clearing, not wanting to be in blind sight, but also wanting to have a space to fight in, should they be found by unwanted company.

That and the only choices they had as their 'bed' for the night was the ground or the trunk of a tree. They both wisely chose to lean against the trees.

For a few hours, both men merely stared at the sky above, wondering what the journey would bring them and what they would learn in the time to come.

While Shin wondered about Kage and of the events that he knew were coming, Sasuke wondered about Shin and whether he was really trustworthy.

Their minds danced for a while longer before finally, they drifted off to sleep.

What seemed to be only moments later, though it actually wasn't, a sharp whistle echoed through the air, immediately waking up the two teenagers. Sasuke immediately fell into a loose fighting stance, warily glancing around him and honing in his senses.

Shin merely rolled to his side to fall on the ground. He had, miraculously, remained sitting against the tree the entire night, so when he tried to roll over... there was nothing to roll over on, so therefore, a light fall to the ground. Sasuke only looked at him for a moment before scanning the area once again.

However, he was interrupted by Shin's muttering that told him to, "Stop acting so anal, it's just Kai."

Noting that he had said, "just Kai", Sasuke assumed that it meant they were not about to be attacked, and so, minutely relaxed himself.

Shin looked like he was attempting to burrow himself into the ground as he pressed harder and harder into the earth, trying desperately to keep the sun out of his eyes. He pulled at his cloak and scarf, attempting to hide behind them. His attempts were futile as the ground refused to give away and the sun continued to shine through his clothes. With a huff, Shin sat up and stretched his arms.

"Stupid Kai, he always loved doing this to me. Ugh, I'm so glad he wasn't with us at Konoha," he muttered to himself, all the while slowly lifting himself off the ground, as if he was still in pain.

"Who's Kai?" Blunt as always, Sasuke went straight to the point, brushing by all morning greetings as was usually polite to do. Which Shin gladly pointed out, "You know, it's usually polite to greet someone in the morning before you bombard them with questions."

Shin was met by only a blank stare. Not to be defeated by something like this, he defiantly stared back and for a few minutes, this was all they did.

Until another whistle interrupted them. This one was shrill and loud, seeming to originate somewhere very near them.

A young male voice rang through the clearing, once again, it was loud and clear as if the speaker stood right next to them, but with only a glance, it was obvious that there was no one there. "Time's a-wasting guys, let's get on with it, eh?"

While Sasuke looked bewildered, Shin rolled his eyes and spoke to, apparently, thin air.

"Stop bothering us, Kai, and talk normally."

This time, a childish tone carried through the area, "You're not my mother, so, nyah!" One could almost see the tongue that stuck out at the end of the statement, blowing a raspberry at Shin. But he only laughed and said, "Put that tongue back in there. Leave it for Hotaru, Kai."

Abruptly, the wind that Sasuke did not realize was there stopped and there were only the sounds of nature and nothing else.

Shin laughed again and made a vertical mark in the air, "Twenty-two for me, nineteen for Kai."

Then he finally turned to Sasuke and it appeared he forgot about the staring contest as he answered Sasuke's previous question, "_That_ was Kai, my sister's long term boyfriend. _Very_ long term boyfriend. If you ask me, I would've told them to get married years ago, if it weren't for the whole issue that Kai's still kind of a mortal and Hotaru wouldn't be very happy to see him die. Of course, that would be easily solved if Hotaru's mother would just give up and..." Shin continued to ramble on about Kai, Hotaru, her mother and the issues surrounding the two. While he spoke, he started to walk to the left.

Sasuke looked up at the sun's position and noted with some surprise that Shin was walking northeast, heading directly towards Cloud Country, the same direction that Sasuke had led the two of them the night before. The surprise was quickly dashed when Shin turned back to ask, "Hey, is this the right direction? I'm sort of just walking randomly here."

With a sweat drop that had appeared last with Naruto, Sasuke shook his head, a small smile appearing on his lips before he jogged to Shin's side and then past him, lightly hitting him on the head as he did so.

"Come on dobe, we're heading to Cloud Country."

"Hey! Don't call me that!" Shin shouted after Sasuke, but he only received an impatient, "Hurry up," in response.

Shin stood at his place for an instant, tilting his head and smiling, _'I was right, this is going to be an interesting journey.'_ But even as this thought passed through his mind, there was still the ever present apprehension of Kage's plans and where he would strike next.

----------

The two teenagers had walked for most of the day, other times sprinting through the plains, mountains, and forests that rose in their path. Finally, when the sun became unbearable in its late summer heat, the two rested in a well-sheltered area of the forest they were in. Both of them panted from excess exertion and drops of sweat rolled down Sasuke's face to drop down onto his shirt. His shirt was in a worse condition compared to his face, the neckline completely soaked and the rest sticking to his body.

It was hard to say if Shin was hot, but since he was still wearing his cloak and scarf, one would have to assume that he was. And moments later, he loudly declared his discomfort in a most unusual way.

"C'mon, Kai. I know you're there. Help me out, will you?" At his words, Sasuke rose an eyebrow, refraining from calling Shin crazy because he had heard the voice appear from thin air hours earlier as well.

"I can't help you if you won't help yourself. Besides, you know I can't just randomly-"

In his desperation, Shin cut off the voice before it could go further, "Don't give me that! I know you've got something extra with you! You always do."

There was a pause before the voice spoke again, "Okay, so I do have a few, that doesn't mean I'm about to give it to _you_. There are tons of other people who need this more than you do."

"How could you say that?" Shin cried out incredulously, as if insulted that Kai would say that to him.

"I can say that plenty well to you since they don't choose to wear a cloak _and_ scarf in a weather like this." Kai spoke with a hint of glee, as if anticipating something.

Shin scowled and grudgingly made a horizontal mark in the air, "Twenty-two for me... twenty for you." A raucous laugh echoed in the forest. "Don't look so down, Shin, I still have three to go and I'm sure _plenty_ of people won't mind if you wear a-"

"Hey! Just because I agreed to it, doesn't mean you can just randomly tell everybody!" Off to the side, Sasuke donned an annoyed look. Honestly, this was the second time today he was being ignored. And for an invisible guy too!

"Why, Shin, I can't believe you think so little of Sasuke. And to think, he was starting to like you too!"

Suddenly, Sasuke decided that he liked it better when he was being ignored. Shin narrowed his eyes at Kai's words and only wrinkled his nose up as a response. "If you don't want to help me, then you could've just told me that in the beginning."

"Hey! I did! That was the first thing I said!"

Shin looked to Sasuke, "Really?" Sasuke nodded to him in affirmation. "Oh. Huh..."

"There's something different about you, Shin. You're not usually this forgetful and brash." Kai paused for a moment before continuing, "I think I like you this way better. You seem more... natural. Do you-"

The voice, Kai's voice, abruptly disappeared. And again, with the disappearance, the slight wind that had been blowing also disappeared. Without a notice, Hotaru appeared in front of them and while Shin remained -mostly- unaffected, Sasuke was startled into stepping back a step before regaining his composure.

A soft smile appeared on Hotaru's face, "Sorry about that, Kai was being silly again. And Shin, you know that if you want Kai to help you, you have to help yourself first. That is the first thing I've told you, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but you were the one who told me that-"

"That was when you were in a village, I never told you that you couldn't take it off when you were with a friend, did I?"

Shin murmured a soft "no" before sighing and reluctantly taking off his scarf and cloak.

Throughout it all, Sasuke had stood off to the side, seemingly unnoticed by everyone. He wondered about Shin's reluctance to take off his outer clothing - it was pretty hot, after all - but when Shin bared his face to the air, he realized just why Shin didn't want to take it off.

Shock ran through his system as sun-bright blond hair was revealed, soon followed by a tanned skin, unmarred except for three whisker-like scars that appeared on each side of his face. But most surprising to Sasuke was that for a moment, he saw nothing but blue eyes, the red that had been there disappeared, before it suddenly came into his vision and Sasuke was brought back.

He almost stumbled but was kept from doing so by the tree he had ended up leaning against. Sasuke closed his eyes and breathed in before opening his eyes again.

There, in front of him, Shin who looked like Naruto and Hotaru who was the Angel of Life and Death looked calmly back at him. Although it seemed that Shin was anxious to see Sasuke's reaction.

He felt relieved yet strangely disappointed when Sasuke merely said, "I guess this is why you didn't want me to see your face?" Shin nodded minutely while Hotaru only smiled and said, "Now that you've taken off your heavy clothes, if you still feel hot later on, just ask Kai for help and he'll give it to you. Make sure it's only when you're sure it's the only thing left though, okay?"

Hotaru received no acknowledgement of her words, but she also did not expect any, so after glancing between Sasuke and Shin, she disappeared the same way she appeared; without a noise, without a warning and without a trace.

Another staring contest started, but this time, instead of with stoicism and defiance, they stared at each other with questions and unformed answers.

Sasuke exhaled sharply before speaking, "We should start heading out, the sun is coming back down now." And with that, he continued off to the north where more questions and less answers laid.

The blond boy stretched out a hand as if reaching out to stop him, but just as he suddenly brought it up, he brought it back down without saying anything.

Smiling, he jogged to Sasuke's side.

_"It's okay. For now, it's okay. We'll talk about this later. Later, when I know you. Shin."_

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A day passed in their travels and with the swift pace they set - for it seemed that Shin was able to keep up with the grueling pace Sasuke set now that his cloak was off - they were due to enter the Thunder country by the morning of the next day. **(1)** For now, they prepared to rest at the edge of the forest they managed to cross as night fell. They spent most of their journey that day in a comfortable if not slightly awkward silence, usually only speaking to each other to point out something in their path.

But now it was nighttime and they had only each other for company. A small breeze blew through the trees, rustling fallen leaves and grass along its path, providing little distraction from their thoughts.

Whoa. Dejá vu. (sorry 'bout that)

The only difference this time was that Shin was content to drift off to sleep, despite any questions he may have had. On the other hand, Sasuke was stuck to staring at the stars as if they held the answers to everything. And it is with this in mind that he is unexpectedly startled by the appearance of a young man.

Looking every inch of the word 'bishounen', the wind tossed the stranger's silver hair as golden eyes bore down at Sasuke. He was dressed in a red shirt and deep blue pants that stood out among the green foliage of the tree. **(2) **In the dark, he seemed to glow, yet blend in at the same time.

When after a few moments, the two only looked at each other, Sasuke shifted his eyes to the sky beyond the male, content, it appeared, to ignore him.

A boisterous laugh echoed through the area, even while it seemed to... contract within itself.

"I don't suppose there's a particular reason that the _Slatrommi_ are showing themselves to me one by one today, is there?" Sasuke spoke to the sky, somehow realizing that this man - this _Slatrommi_, apparently - would not be offended if he spoke to the sky as if it were him.

A content smile stretched across the silver haired teenager - for that is what he appeared to be, a teenager, just like Sasuke - "Of course there is! You're traveling with our brother, you should've expected us to show up."

"Brother?" A curious inflection appeared in his voice and Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes. '_Sure, you find out Shin looks like Naruto and _now _you decide to want to show you care? About anything?'_

"Adopted, of course. None of the _Slatrommi_ are truly related to each other just as they can never truly be separated. It's all a part of the mix and jumble that makes up our history. You want to hear about it, I'm sure. But I don't understand half of the things that happened."

"Hn, I'm sure."

The stranger laughed and Sasuke literally heard the very stars in it. There was a moment of hesitation on Sasuke's part before he threw it away and said, "You're the Cosmos _Slatrommi_, Rikugou?"

"I prefer Riku, but congratulations! You are effectively the only person to have guessed who I am. Not that I can blame anyone, there are only few people who even know about me. I guess you really are as smart as they say you are, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke finally turned his eyes toward the boy, idly examining his features. "You're a tad different from what I expected."

"Really?" The boy frowned before saying, "I bet Seika painted a nasty picture of me. Aside from you, she's the only mortal I can think of who knows of us."

"On the contrary, I expected something more from her words. Not someone-"

"Be careful of what you say, Sasuke-kun. You never know what the consequences may be." With his words, Riku's entire demeanor seemed to change from an easy-going teenager to an intimidating man.

Not waiting to hear Sasuke's response, he continued speaking, "But I didn't come here to talk about me, I came here to talk about you."

"I wasn't aware that there was something to talk about."

"Of course there is! You still have to make a decision, don't you?" Again, his mood seemed to change as he turned curious and cocked his head at Sasuke.

"Decision? About what?"

"Mou... you can't do this to me. I don't know about what! Something! There's a decision to be made, I know there is!" Riku grew frustrated with his own words and for a moment, the night seemed to grow simultaneously brighter and darker.

"Riku, you need to calm down. It's okay." Another voice spoke up from behind Sasuke, it appeared that Shin was woken by their voices.

At the sound of his voice, Riku turned and looked down at him before jumping down from the tree he stood on. "Shin! I haven't seen you in a while!"

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" A soft smile spread on Shin's face, as if coaxing Riku to walk closer to him. It was working for a while, but then Riku suddenly stopped in his path, a frown marring his face.

"I know what you're doing. Stop treating me as if I was a little kid. I'm a few thousand years older than you, you know." At his words, Shin relaxed and a more natural smile appeared, "You know I can't help it."

"Of course, I'm too cute and cuddly to resist." Riku said sarcastically.

Shin beamed at him, "That's right!" With a laugh, Riku ran towards Shin and was caught up in a hug.

Off to the side (once again) Sasuke looked on with passive eyes, but his hands were fisted tightly.

Meanwhile, Riku was twirled into a circle before somehow maneuvering himself to face Sasuke. Then, he mouthed a word to him.

"Jealous?" His golden eyes twinkled at him and once again, Sasuke was reminded of the celestial beings in the sky. In an unexpected move, he mouthed back, "Of Shin, maybe."

Riku immediately started blinking rapidly, startled at Sasuke's words.

Shin was in turn startled when rich laughter came from Sasuke, but when he set Riku down, he got the feeling that the _Slatrommi_ gained a new friend.

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A yawn nearly echoed as Shin woke up from a good night's rest only to be interrupted by a tossed branch from Sasuke's direction. He turned to question the boy when he noticed that it wasn't just Sasuke, Riku was there too. And they looked like they were... cuddling.

He stared in shock at the two before quickly getting up to stomp over to their area. One golden eye peeked at him, then slowly closed in contentment. Feeling slightly enraged - and not knowing why - Shin reached down to grab Riku by his arm but was interrupted by a voice that rang out.

"Now, now, Shin, no need to get jealous. I'm _sure_ Sasuke likes you just as much."

Face flushing, Shin swiveled around to see Kai smirking in amusement while leaning against a tree. Shin took a moment to wonder why _Slatrommi_ had such weird colored hair - Kai had dark blue hair with black eyes - then remembering Sakura and her _pink_ hair, before registering his comment. He attempted to fire back a retort, but found himself lost for words.

He was kept from needing to say anything as a stifled moan was heard from behind him. Eyes widening, he swiftly turned back and sighed in relief when all he saw was Sasuke waking up. And with Riku looking straight at him… from his position in front of Sasuke, Shin expected a reaction from Sasuke, any reaction that had at least a _small_ amount of displeasure, but all he did was yawn and say, "Good morning, Riku"

Shin's mouth opened and closed several times.

"Ooh, let me guess Shin, you're trying to be a fish!" Kai laughed at Shin's expression, taking glee in his surprise. The blond suppressed a growl and roughly said, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Ah! I almost forgot! Hotaru wanted me to inform you and," he gestured behind Shin, "Sasuke that Riku will be traveling with you for as long as Fate deems it necessary."

"What? Why?" A worried look crossed Shin's face, "There isn't anything wrong, is there?"

"No, not that I know of anyway. Fate says that you might need his help later on and Riku needs a place to stay for now. Or rather, he needs people to stay with." Kai said matter-of-factly, as if it was a common occurrence. Thinking back, it probably was. Riku was always getting into trouble when he was on his own and with Hotaru, her mother and uncle busy, Kai either with Hotaru or on his own, and Chi stuck watching Konoha, Riku need someone to stay with to make sure he didn't get in trouble.

The blond turned to ask Sasuke if it was okay with him, but it was apparent that he didn't mind since he looked as if he was getting along with Riku famously.

An annoyed look crossed his face, but he turned to Kai to say, "It's okay. I guess having another person around would be helpful."

Kai refrained from commenting, merely smiling and saying a cheery, "See you later!" before disappearing.

Well, he didn't really disappear. He kind of floated away...

"Psh, Air _Slatrommi_, show-offs."

He turned around to face the others to inform them of the new change only to see them waiting for him a few yards off.

"C'mon Shin, you don't want to be left behind, do you?" Riku sent a cheeky grin towards Shin's direction and was met with a scowl. Immediately, Shin walked up to Riku and ruffled his hair before walking off.

"Aw man, don't do that!" Riku followed Shin, catching up and started to chatter at him. Sasuke meanwhile, continued at his own pace, wondering if Shin knew where he was really going.

Moments later, it appeared not, for they had somehow managed to completely bypass the Thunder country and enter the Wind country. **(1)** For a while, Sasuke stood in front of the boundary sign in confusion. He wasn't sure how this had happened since the only way to get to the Wind country was either by walking through the widest part of the Thunder country, residing in the Cloud country or getting there by the water that surrounded it from the west and east. And he was absolutely positive that they had not passed through Thunder country because he remembered that it took at least four days of getting past a few villages - Thunder country citizens were very, very, generous and always insisted that you stay and eat at their house if you pass by - and another half a day to take into account the numerous rivers that ran through the country.

Shin and Riku didn't seem to notice anything weird, even though Sasuke had told Shin that they would need to pass through the Thunder country in order to get to Wind and then Cloud. But seeing Sasuke stop, the two backtracked and approached Sasuke.

"What's wrong Uchiha-san?"

"Yeah, what's the matter, Sasuke-_kun_?" At Riku's stressed title for Sasuke, Shin sent a sharp glance at him before looking back at Sasuke. Riku merely grinned.

"Why are we already in Wind?"

At his words, Riku grew confused as he replied, "We're not supposed to be? I sent us to Wind because I thought this was your destination... Oh no, did I go to the wrong place?"

Sasuke blinked at his words before silently reminding himself that he was traveling with a _Slatrommi_ now, a Cosmos _Slatrommi_, the one that governed Dark, Light, Chaos, Peace, the planets, and the stars for that matter. Jumping countries seems as if it to be an easy thing for them. "No, you didn't go to the wrong place. We were supposed to come here, but only after going through Thunder country."

"Oh! Hotaru told me that there was no need to go to the Thunder country. She said we wouldn't find anything useful there."

"If Hotaru said that, I'm sure it will be fine. You didn't need to do anything at Thunder, right?"

"I was hoping to send a letter back to Konoha so they don't decide to label me as a missing-nin. But I guess I can always just send it from Wind." Sasuke looked a tad doubtful, but shrugged it off with Shin's bright smile.

"Great! So let's get going!"

And so, they entered the Wind country's boundary.

Somehow, in the first town they entered, they met Jiraiya.

Who was getting chased out of the women's side of the town's onsen.

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_Meanwhile in Thunder country:_

"Are you sure that the letter said they would be here, Kisame?"

"I'm positive, Itachi."

"And you're sure it's not from the same source as the one who sent us off to Snow?"

"Absolutely positive. None of the signs were the same. Smell, touch of the paper, the writing style."

"Let's hope that he's here then. For your sake, Kisame."

"Oh, young man, you look absolutely worn down! Come in, come in."

"It's okay... obaa-san" A forced tone was heard. "We're fine."

"No, no, I insist! Such a sturdy look to you too. Why don't you meet my daughter..."

**To Be Continued...**

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**(1)** After scrounging around the 'net, then giving up and going straight to the manga, I found a map of Naruto's world (chapter 9, for those of you who want to know) where there is a separation of two countries between the Fire Country and the Cloud Country to the northeast. Seito (and later I) decided to name it after two elements that have yet to show up in Kishimoto's world. The first one being Thunder, the second being Wind. If you can either (a) Find the actual names of the two countries or (b) Find that there is a country named Thunder/Wind and it isn't those two countries, we would appreciate it if you told us. Otherwise, you can accept this as a _Without Life_ fact.

Seito: We named it Wind because we didn't want to copy the person who claimed Air first.

**(2)** Directly copied (after the comma) from Seito's _Or Die Trying_ in which both Hotaru and this kid shows up. This story happens after chapter 234 of the manga, right after Sasuke leaves Naruto after the fight. It's a good story, so... go read it. (And I'm serious this time, it's not my obligatory beta reader thinking. Actually... I don't have much of that with Seito, now that I think of it...)

QianYun- I laugh. I really do. I spend two months procrastinating and I end up mostly starting and finishing this in one day. I kill myself.

**Don't forget to Review!**

Written- January 23, 2005


	11. Trouble At Wind Secrets at Snow

Mesa no own Naruto (Just the random OCs)

Seito: Wai… we kinda forgot we had this… we finish… and forgot to post… : P Well today's our birthday! So enjoy! While I enjoy my sweet sixteen!

**To quaebah24**

Yes, Hotaru is strange. (Hotaru: He can't kill me if I kill him first.) Yes… what goes on in her mind, I'll never understand.

**To Tenshi Urameshi**

Don't worry. Riku won't get Sasuke. I would never do that Sasuke or Naruto. Riku is just playing around.

**To Yum2**

Déjà-vu … yeah… spell check… doesn't exactly catches it… and yeah… if it does… sometimes it gives the wrong one… sigh. Yeah… And I think you meant Gambatte. (QY- She would know just like you know cuz you're French and she's Jap. XP)

**To Kyuubi-kun**

So true, so very true.

**To everyone else**

**THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING!**

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_Without Life_

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**Chapter XI**

**Trouble At Wind; Secrets at Snow**

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There was a rumble, a small rumble… a very small one like a prequel to a small earthquake. Nothing to worry about… Earthquakes weren't rare.

Of course the strange thing was what followed after the rumble was felt. A scream… a man's scream…

Sasuke, Shin, and Riku looked at each other. A slight tingle of dread overcame the three of them and something, a little voice, was shouting in the back of their heads, 'Get-out-of-there-NOW!' They didn't move, ignoring that little voice. It didn't matter; they were about to find out why anyways.

"Isn't that Jiraiya-san?" pointed out Shin.

Indeed, the said Sannin was heading their way. Before greetings could be said, Jiraiya leaped behind Shin, gripped onto the poor boy as if he was some kind of shield. Shin was about to ask what was going when the reason became VERY clear.

"Ummm… Shin? Sasuke-kun?" started Riku. The two looked in the direction that Riku was. There, coming at them like a pack of angry bulls, was a horde of girls. A large horde of girls… each one held some kind of weapon (mop, shovel, sword, broom, etc). Now, from experience, both Shin and Sasuke knew very well that you do NOT mess with girls. Especially angry girls who band together. So they did the most sensible (not really) thing they could think of at the moment: grab Riku and ruuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

Of course, the poor boys didn't realize that by running, the horde of girls assumed that they were with the pervert that was peeping on them. In other words, everything went from bad to worse. Needless to say, the whole town was treated to some entertainment.

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Riku whistled a little tune to himself. The sky was clear, the breeze was cool; it was very peaceful. And peace was something Riku liked. Of course, seeing his (adopted) brother and his friends run around screaming was much more fun to watch.

Riku looked towards the sun. Judging from the movement, he would have to say that they had been running around the town for about an hour. Riku, of course, was smart and found the perfect moment to teleport himself out of the range of the horde of girls as soon as he understood what was going on. Needless to say, Shin and Sasuke (Jiraiya too) were cursing Riku's luck to escape.

Flashback-

"What's going on?" asked Riku.

"Just shut up and run. You don't want to get in those girls' ways!" shouted Shin. Jiraiya nodded in the background. Sasuke glared at the older man.

"This is all your fault," the Uchiha accused.

"Who? Me?" questioned Jiraiya.

"Oh, so basically, hide from those girls," said Riku.

"Yeah, basically," answered Shin.

"Okay." Then Riku vanished. If Shin had the time, he would have stared and gaped before realizing what the silver haired boy had done.

End of Flashback-

So Riku had spent the last half hour watching Shin, Sasuke-kun, and Jiraiya-san run around the town. In fact, here they come again.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"COME BACK HERE, YOU PERVERTS!"

"PEEPING TOMS!"

"BASTARDS!"

"WHEN WE OUR HANDS ON YOU!"

"YOU'RE GOING TO WISH YOU NEVER DID THAT!"

Riku looked down and noticed that Sasuke-kun wasn't running anymore. 'Looks like Sasuke-kun managed to find a hiding place.' Riku smiled and watched Shin and Jiraiya continue another lap around the town. He couldn't help but wonder why Shin hadn't found a hiding place yet…

&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&

Riku was right; Sasuke did find a hiding place. Not a comfortable hiding place, but a hiding place nevertheless. Being cramped up in a closet was better than running from those crazy girls (not to mention he accidentally locked himself in). Since he had time to kill (it would be another couple hours before it was safe to walk outside, not that he could), Sasuke figured he might as well get started on that letter. Konoha was probably in an uproar already. It would be no surprise to him if Tsunade had already sent out the ANBU teams to find and kill him. Sasuke just hoped he would have a chance to explain before they decided to do that. Then again… with them just randomly going to places, it might be a while until the ANBU team found them. Especially considering they just (somehow) jumped a country without Sasuke knowing. (He still hadn't figured out how Riku managed to pull that one off without him noticing it. It must have been in the morning, really early in the morning…Sasuke's brain mustn't have been functioning when it happened. So really early in the morning...)

Sasuke fished out some paper and a pen from his pocket. Now, how to start his letter…

&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&

Shin didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. First Jiraiya-san pulls him into a stupid chase, then Riku disappears, leaving him high and dry. After that, Sasuke ditches him! So yes, Shin wasn't liking this.

"So kid, any ideas?" asked Jiraiya. The older man was running beside him.

Shin scowled and glared at him. "This is all your fault," he accused.

"I noticed you're not wearing your scarf and hood anymore."

"Don't try and change the subject, besides it was too hot."

"Yeah, so kid, any ideas?"

Shin paused and stopped to think. "Yeah," he said with a grin. Jiraiya waited patiently and as soon as they came to a bridge with a river running underneath it, Shin spoke again, "Leave you here and escape." Then Shin jumped off the bridge, into the water and swam to safety. Had Jiraiya had the time, he would have stood there gaping like an idiot for the next hour.

"THERE HE IS!"

"GET HIM!"

But Jiraiya didn't have the time, so the chase continued.

&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&

Up on the rooftops Riku was having fun. So Shin managed to hide, that was good. It would have been a big disappointment if Jiraiya managed to get away before Shin did. Riku was surprised Shin wasn't the first to disappear. After all those times trying to hide from Hotaru… Shin should be a master at hide and go seek. Then again… Hotaru always managed to find him too. So maybe Shin wasn't a master… more like an amateur.

A shift in the wind drew Riku's attention away. Looks like Kai was here. 'I wonder why,' Riku thought to himself. Oh well, he'll probably find out soon enough.

&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&

"You need that letter delivered?"

Sasuke looked up as he finished the end of his letter. Instantly, his eyebrow rose. "Should I even ask how on earth you managed to get into a locked closet?"

Kai's black eyes shone playfully at him. "Probably not. So do you need that letter delivered or not?"

Sasuke sealed the letter and handed it to Kai. "Sure. Since you're offering, but before you go…" Sasuke paused before continuing. "Could you open the door?" The blue haired _Slatrommi_ could only sweat drop.

&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&

Shin squeezed out the water from his clothes. He would dry them with his magic, but a red glow from underneath a bridge might attract those girls back here. Above him, he heard Jiraiya pass over the bridge again. That baka… serves him right for dragging him into this mess. Shin continued to curse the older man. The young fire mage knew he was going to be sick tomorrow. He hated his luck.

&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&

Sasuke was right about one thing. Konoha was in an uproar. They went crazy when Uchiha Sasuke suddenly disappeared overnight without a note. Not only that, their guest, Shin, has also disappeared overnight. The same night Sasuke disappeared. Even though Shin left a note, half the village blamed him for Sasuke's disappearance. Think about, Shin comes and when he leaves, Uchiha-san disappears. Clearly Shin was sent to kidnap Sasuke.

The other half of the village was worried that Sasuke had been pushed over the edge and went to pursue Orochimaru again. Sasuke had almost succeeded in betraying the Leaf and the person who brought him back was no longer here. What were they going to do?

Up on top of Hokage Mountain, hidden from mortals' eyes, a little girl watched Konoha with boredom in her crimson eyes. Her red hair flew in the wind as she twisted the ends of her leaf green shirt before standing up to dust her emerald green skirt. She was bored! Watching a village was boring even if they were in a state of chaos. Rubbing the blue stone on her necklace, she let out a yawn. Why did she have to watch? Crimson eyes suddenly lit up, maybe today wouldn't be SO bad.

"Yo, Chi! Got a letter for you to deliver!"

Tsunade rubbed her forehead, feeling a massive headache coming on. At this rate, she would have to declare Sasuke a missing-nin and order the ANBU squad to find and kill the boy. She didn't want to, but betraying Konoha twice in one lifetime was too much.

"Chi thinks Tsunade-sama should wait!"

Tsunade looked up. 'What the-?' Standing in her doorway was a small girl with crimson red eyes. Blood red hair was tied back into a high ponytail, flowing down her back like a waterfall of blood and fire. Her shirt was a leaf green color while her skirt was emerald green. Around her neck was a necklace. In the center of the necklace was a blue stone that shimmered like the different shades of the ocean. In her hands was an envelope.

"Who-how-what?" stammered Tsunade. How did this child get into her office? Why was she here? And who was she?

"Chi is Chi! Chi doesn't want to explain how and Chi has letter for Tsunade-sama! Chi still thinks Tsunade-sama should wait before sending the ANBU team out," Chi chattered quickly in third person. She bounced up to Tsunade and handed her the letter she was holding.

"Read! Read! Letter from Sasuke-niisan! Sasuke-niisan is in good hands! Sasuke-niisan is with Shin-niisan and Riku-niisan," Chi continued to chirp in a singsong voice.

Tsunade's eyebrow rose as she opened the letter. It didn't seem suspicious. Still, she opened the letter carefully. Inside, with Sasuke's familiar writing, it said :

_Dear Hokage-sama,_

_As you probably know by now, I'm not at Konoha. Hopefully this letter gets to you before you decide to label me as a missing-nin and send an ANBU team to kill me. It wasn't my choice to leave Konoha… actually it was in a way, but I seriously didn't plan on leaving Konoha. Let's just say, I managed to get myself mixed up with some of Shin's problems and it's dangerous to return to Konoha any time soon. So in the mean time, I'm stuck traveling with Shin, his adopted brother Riku and for this village, Jiraiya-san as well. It's a bit of an odd traveling group. Jiraiya-san managed anger the ladies from an onsen and is currently being chased. He managed to drag Shin, Riku, and myself into this mess. Currently I'm stuck in a closet, Riku managed to get away and Shin and Jiraiya are still running around, at least to my knowledge. Oh and if a blue-haired man suddenly appears in your office to deliver this message, that's Kai. He's another one of Shin's adopted family members. Apparently, Shin's siblings like to randomly appear at the strangest times, at the strangest places. _

_Uchiha Sasuke_

Tsunade looked up. Well, it wasn't Kai, whoever he was. This was a red-haired girl. "How did you get this letter?" Tsunade asked.

Chi happily answered it for her. "Kai-niisan gave it to Chi! Kai-niisan said to deliver to Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-sama wants to send a letter?"

Tsunade blinked. This was getting a little too weird, even for her own tastes. Instead she sat back down in her chair and rubbed her temples. What a killer headache…

&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&

"Haha! Nothing like good sake and making it through the day alive!"

Three glares were shot at him. Jiraiya grinned. "So what are you boys doing here? You're a little far from Konoha. Tsunade knows you're here right?" The last questions held a serious tone to it.

Riku answered him. "Just traveling. We know we're far away from Konoha and I think Hokage-sama knows we're here. Sasuke-kun sent a letter to her." He winked at Sasuke and noticed that Shin twitched at his actions.

Jiraiya looked at Riku. "Who are you?"

"Riku, Shin's adopted brother," Riku introduced himself.

Jiraiya then turned to Shin. "You got a brother?" he asked.

Shin's eyebrow rose. "Two actually and two sisters. None of us are truly related to each other though." Jiraiya took the moment to compare Shin to Naruto. He could see why Tsunade had such high hopes, and with Shin unable to remember who he was, it was almost like Naruto was still here, just as Shin. The likeness between Shin and Naruto continued to surprise Jiraiya. The two boys just looked too much alike. Shin could pass as Naruto's twin brother and everyone would more or less believe them.

"So where are they?" asked Jiraiya. "And how come you came to Konoha by yourself?"

"I went because I wanted to. As for where the three siblings are, one should be near Konoha wandering around and the two are … somewhere," answered Shin. No need to give too much information to Jiraiya.

"I'm hurt! You don't even know where I am, even when I'm standing right behind you."

Shin almost fell out of his chair when he heard the voice. Sasuke's head snapped to the direction of the voice, Jiraiya glanced the same way, and Riku… well Riku didn't do anything. Standing behind Shin was Kai, obsidian black eyes gleaming with mischief.

"What are you doing here!" shouted Shin, drawing everyone in the restaurant's attention that they were in. Upon noticing that, Shin grinned sheepishly.

Kai on the other hand, covered his ears, a sad attempt to stop them from ringing. "Damnit, Shin. You don't have to yell. After all this time, you'd think you would be used to my random appearances. Hotaru does this to you more than I do, but you yell at me?"

Shin just stared at Kai. "Yeah, but it's Hotaru's way of randomly popping up. You always pop up when I'm alone. She pops up in the oddest places at the oddest time. I'm not used to you popping up in crowded places."

Kai pretended to look hurt. "So sorry," he said with a bit of sarcasm. "I'm just delivering letters." He handed Sasuke a letter and told him, "Looks like Tsunade-sama wants a full report on what you're doing and who you're traveling with. Apparently she doesn't trust us. I don't see why. You're safer with Shin and Riku than anywhere else, if you minus that little fact."

They all (except for Jiraiya) knew what Kai meant. Sasuke in the meantime, read the letter quickly. He looked at Kai, his eyes held a question. Shin caught the gist of what was going on. He looked worried.

((Kai. Are you going to let him?))

/Yeah. Kinda have to unless you want an ANBU team on your tails. Just make sure he doesn't mention anything about magic and _Slatrommi_./

((Okay. Where's Hotaru?))

/Somewhere, doing her job. Jiraiya is here and that's why she hasn't randomly appeared yet./

((Oh.))

Shin turned to Jiraiya who was still watching Kai carefully. "Hey, Jiraiya-san. How long have you been in Wind?"

Jiraiya thought about it. "Couple of days."

"Have you seen anyone with inhuman red eyes and long crimson red hair? He gives a rather evil chill if you stand next to him?" questioned Shin.

Jiraiya was taken aback as Shin's eyes almost glowed a dangerous red color. The atmosphere grew warm and dead serious. He glanced behind Shin. Both Kai and Riku had similar serious expressions on their faces. However, Sasuke didn't seem to know what Shin was talking about. In fact, he looked just as surprised as Jiraiya. However, a slow realization was overcoming him.

"No, I can't say I have," answered Jiraiya. "May I ask why?"

Shin shook his head. "It's better that you don't." The red glow faded, returning the sapphire blue part to the dual color eyes.

Minutes passed…

And hours fell by…

The sun set…

Night came…

Kai left…

Everyone was asleep…

However…

Shin was still awake…

Sitting on the rooftop…

Waiting for the sun to rise…

"Hmm… it's strange to see you up and about so early."

Shin turned around. Hotaru stood behind him, watching him as always. The wind tossed her hair and clothes, causing it rustle and fly. She smiled at him. Shin couldn't help but relax. He had become dependent on her presence. Just the fact that his sister was there was just enough. Not knowing who he was or who his family was, Hotaru was one of the constant things that Shin had grown used to. She had always been there and she always came back.

"So where do you plan to head to next?"

Shin contemplated. "Snow would be the best. It's the closest."

Hotaru shrugged. "It's up to you. Cloud country isn't all too fond of Leaf-nins. So warn Uchiha-san if you do travel there."

"Why didn't you show up today? You usually find a reason to randomly appear everyday."

Hotaru smirked. "I thought I would leave you to your exercise. Besides, I couldn't risk Jiraiya-san knowing about me."

Shin's eyebrow rose. "And it's alright that Kai just pops up."

Hotaru could only smile. "Someone is full of sarcasm today. You checked the letter that Sasuke sent?"

Shin smirked. "Of course and what fun we had."

Flashback-

"Oooo, is that a letter?" asked Riku, reading over Sasuke's shoulder. On the bed, Jiraiya had already crashed out in a drunken state. Without warning, Riku suddenly grabbed the letter and leaped out of Sasuke's attempts to grab it back.

Minutes later, Riku's nose crinkled. "Hey!" he remarked.

"Riku, give that back!" shouted Sasuke.

"Eh?" asked Shin. He and Kai were currently playing cards on another bed. Now why was Sasuke chasing Riku? And why was Riku holding a pen, writing something down?

"Riku!" yelled Sasuke.

Riku ignored the black-haired shinobi and handed the letter to Shin. "Here Shin, read."

Shin blinked and read the letter while Sasuke continued to chase Riku around the room, not noticing the silver-haired _Slatrommi_ no longer had the letter he was seeking. Shin blinked again and re-read the letter. He picked up the pen and added a few changes of his own. Just as he finished, Riku leaped behind Shin for protection.

"Eh?" said Shin. Then an expression of shock as Sasuke threw a kunai in Riku's direction… whom happened to be hiding behind Shin… Shin gave a yelp and ducked, dragging himself into the little chase. So Sasuke was chasing Riku, Riku was chasing Shin, and Shin was running away.

Kai sweat dropped. Oh dear… He picked up the letter and the pen that Shin left behind. Might as well finish this letter. Sasuke wasn't going to be stopping any time soon. Geeze, how could Jiraiya sleep through all of this noise?

End of Flashback-

Hotaru giggled. "I suppose Kai went to deliver the letter."

Shin shrugged. "I guess," he said. "He disappeared earlier. So most likely."

Hotaru shook her head. "Tsunade-san is going to think he's an escaped asylum inmate."

Shin grinned. "Yeah, that's probably right."

&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&

Tsunade sweat dropped and wondered who on earth wrote this letter. It sounded a bit like someone who escaped an insane asylum. She rubbed her forehead. Just who exactly was Sasuke traveling with?

_Dear Hokage-sama_

_You requested in your last letter a detailed report. Since Jiraiya-san is currently knocked out due to drinking too much sake, Shin and Kai playing cards and Riku doing something, I figured this would be the best time to write you the report. Currently we are traveling through Wind Country. Shin, you already know. Riku and Kai are Shin's brothers. Riku can be a bit annoying and he changes moods faster than any girl I've met. _(At this point Riku crossed this out and wrote that he was not annoying and that he didn't change moods faster than a girl) _Kai pops up randomly. He's okay. Actually I'm not sure what to make of him. Hotaru is Shin's other sibling. She randomly appears everywhere too. I haven't seen her since Wind Count—_

(Ink splatters all over the paper)

_Hello Tsunade-san. This is Shin. Sasuke… is currently busy. I assure you that I didn't mean to get him mixed up in my problems. You remember that man I told you that I was looking for? Well yeah, he's targeting Sasuke for some reason and until it's safe for him to return to Konoha, he's kinda stuck traveling with me. I hope you don't mind. _

(More ink splatters)

_Hokage-sama, I regret to inform you that both Shin and Sasuke are currently busy. Sasuke is chasing Riku, Riku is chasing Shin and Shin is just… well running away. See Sasuke believes that Riku still has the letter (the one that I'm writing in) and Riku is using Shin as a human shield and, of course, Shin doesn't want to be a human shield. I assure you, this is perfectly normal behavior. (At least for Riku and Shin it is.) I understand that Jiraiya-san was your teammate. Can you tell me how it is possible that he can sleep through a riot of noise? I was under the impression that shinobi should be ready at a moment's notice. Wouldn't yelling wake and alert any ninja?_

_Whatever horrible things Sasuke-kun writes about me isn't true! Help!_

_Umm… that was Riku. He managed to grab the letter back from me. Anyways, Sasuke is in good hands._

_(Hotaru will kill me if anything happens to Sasuke or Shin. She's way to fond of her new little brothers.)_

_Kai_

Tsunade would already feel the oncoming headache. Plus that hyper girl, Chi, was slowing getting on her nerves. The girl was cute… just slightly confusing and hard to understand sometimes. Damnit! Sasuke had some explaining to do when he gets back. That is, if she didn't strangle him first.

&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&

Snow Country. Like its name, everything was covered in a thick white blanket of snow. Tall ice mountains could be seen in the distance. Snow and blizzards were a common occurrence, one or the other happening every single day. It was truly a winter wonderland.

It took awhile, a couple days, to get through the flat plains of Snow Country and to a village. But they got there nevertheless.

Shin threw off his hood. "Ah, it feels good to be somewhere warm," he said. Two glares were sent at him as Shin just blinked innocently. Was it his fault that he managed to keep himself warm during the travel just because he had fire magic? Certainly not. (Though it was one of the greater advantages of being a Fire Mage)

"Let's just get out of this snow," commented Jiraiya. The older man had decided to travel with the group of young boys, seeing no harm in it. (Plus he got to continue his research in Snow Country).

They walked inside a local restaurant. It was warm and toasty, the perfect thing after a long journey through the snow. The four travelers shook off the snow from their shoes and cloaks and plopped down in front of the counter of the shop.

As the tea was served to them, Sasuke became aware of the person he was sitting next to. A very familiar face; mind you, one that he hadn't seen in a year. "Seika?" he asked.

Bright sapphire eyes turned to look at him and three heads turned to look at whom Sasuke was talking to. Sitting on the stool, next to Sasuke, was a young lady. Possibly shorter than Shin, her long white hair was tied back. Around her neck was Snow hitai-ate. Seika blinked, surprise filling her blue eyes.

"Uchiha-san? What are you doing here?"

"Traveling."

Now that answer took Seika by surprise. What happened to the ever so monotone voice? Did she just catch a hint of amusement laced within that voice? Mentally, Seika shook her head. No… she had to be imagining things.

"Acquaintances of yours?" she asked next, looking at Shin, Riku, and Jiraiya.

"Something like that," Sasuke answered. How did he classify these three? Jiraiya was this legendary person who rivaled Orochimaru in strength. Sasuke barely knew him other than his name and supposedly his love for naked woman. Riku, Sasuke only knew for a few days and Shin only for a few weeks.

))Riku…((

)Hmm?(

))I need you to check up on Chi for a while. She's complaining about something.((

Riku whined mentally. )Hotaru!( Why did he have to?

))Riku…(( Hotaru's voice rang sternly in his head.

Riku let out a sigh and stood up, drawing his companions' attention. "I gotta check up on something," he said. "I'll be back soon." Then Riku left, heading back into the whiteness of the snow.

Sasuke look questioningly at Shin who only shrugged in response. Shin had no idea where his brother was going. Even if he did, he really doubted he would say anything in front of Jiraiya. Sasuke-kun knew and that was enough outside of the _Slatrommi_.

"So who is your friend, Sasuke," Shin asked, directing the subject away from why Riku left.

"Usuyuki Seika," Seika introduced herself. "You?"

"Shin," Shin replied simply. There was no need to give a last name when you didn't remember what your last name was. Then he pointed to Jiraiya. "This is Jiraiya and the guy who just walked out was my brother Riku."

Meanwhile, Jiraiya had made the connections with Seika's last name. "Usuyuki as in THE Usuyuki family?" he asked. He was silenced by a glare from the young girl.

"Don't even think of bringing up their name in here," she hissed.

Jiraiya held up his hands, trying to calm the girl by assuring her that he wasn't here for trouble. "Oh no! I was just wondering!"

Seika took a deep breath. She really hated talking about her family… She didn't even know why she bothered to mention her last name anymore. It was a waste of time and effort on her part. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she then said, "Well, it's nice to see you again Uchiha-san. We haven't talked since I left Konoha a year ago."

Upon her words, Sasuke remembered something. "Seika-san," he began. "In your readings of myths and legends, did you ever come across a creature called _Segak_? They're supposed to be shadows creatures."

Three things happened after Sasuke said that. One was that Seika began to blink rapidly. Two was that Jiraiya gave Sasuke a look of surprise and wondered what kind of question that was. The third was that Shin practically fell out of his chair before giving Sasuke a look that said "What-the-hell-are-you-doing!"

Seika rolled her eyes, not noticing Shin's reaction. "Oh, so the only thing I am to you is a keeper of legends," she said sarcastically. Sasuke waited patiently for her to start. In way her words were true, Seika was a keeper of legends. Particularly in _Slatrommi_ legends, as Sasuke just found out.

He didn't have to wait for long. "_Segaks_ huh?" said Seika. She looked up towards the ceiling, racking her brain for the word. "Oh yes, them… I just started reading about them. They're creatures of shadows who used to live with that other immortal race I told you about."

Sasuke nodded. He remembered them very well. He was traveling with one and two other ones already.

"_Segaks_ were masters of shadows. They were a distant cousin race to the other immortal race. Hence, they were also immortal to time and sickness but not death. It is said they have no true shape, shape shifters if you may. They have to ability to move through any type of shadow, very useful for sneaking up on people. They have three levels of power. The first is black, that is the lowest and the most common _Segaks _you will find. The next level is red. Out of ten, three will make it to the red level. The final level is blue. This is as dangerous as _Segaks_ can get. Out of a thousand, only one will make it to the blue level," said Seika, mentally leafing through what she knew.

"Conflict broke out between the _Segaks_ and the _Slatrommi_. The _Slatrommi_ was the other group I told you about. No one knew what the conflict was about but it resulted in a war that lasted for four billion years, I think. Mind you, since both races were immortal to time, that probably was only a fraction of their lives, much different from us, humans', point of view. Let's see. Ah, both sides suffered from many battles. Since humans also co-existed with the _Segaks_ and the _Slatrommi_ at the time, of the three races, it was the humans who suffered the most. After all they had almost no protection against the magic that the _Segaks_ and _Slatrommi_ could use. Also because of our short life span, it would be many generations before we saw peace again.

Of the two races, the _Slatrommi_ suffered the most from war. Most _Slatrommi_, as I read, didn't want to or understand why they were fighting the war. That was their first mistake as I read that some of them were very powerful, even by their standards. As the war continued, many decided to join the fight, if they already hadn't. What started as their weakness became their strength, and then in the end it became their weakness once more. By the time they started fighting, most _Slatrommi_ had already grown to hate the _Segaks_. Not an easy task since most _Slatrommi_ were peace loving. The children of the _Slatrommi_ who were born during the war were taught to hate to _Segaks_ for reasons they didn't even know. On the other hand, the _Segaks_ were no better.

_Segaks_ were creatures of shadows, as I said. But unlike their peace-loving cousins, many of them preferred the darkness that loomed in every creature's heart: greed, power, lust, but mostly death and mental/physical torture. But until The Great War started, many humans and _Slatrommi_ never saw this side of the _Segaks_. I guess at one point, the _Segaks_ were content with the peaceful life they were living. Anyways, the _Segaks_ never had a problem with killing/attacking humans and _Slatrommi_ alike. That was what gave them the edge in the battle."

Seika paused, recollecting her thoughts. Of all the myths and legends she read, the _Slatrommi _and _Segaks_ legend was the longest. It was the history of two races whom were locked in a bitter battle that took place eons ago. And she was pretty sure that all of what she had told Uchiha-san was true in one-way or another.

Shin, on the other hand, was frowning. He had heard of the stories of the Great War before. Hotaru rarely spoke of it and both Riku and Chi didn't remember it. Shin never thought of asking his foster mother or uncle about it either. Kai avoided the subject completely so anything he knew came from his textbooks and studies. However, what he was hearing was beginning to disturb him.

Seika suddenly sat up straight in her chair. "Ah, I have a better idea," she said, half to herself. Instantly she grabbed the two nearest people to her: Sasuke and Shin, and proceeded to drag the two boys back into the snow. Jiraiya just stared sadly. Why couldn't he be dragged off by a cute girl? Nevertheless, he followed Seika back out into the cold.

As they left, they never saw Hotaru leaning against side of the restaurant listening to every thing that had been said. A sad look glazed over her eyes as the painful memories revived themselves. The Great War… ah, she remembered it a little too clearly and she wished she didn't. She lost Kai for the first time during that war… she didn't want to relive that experience either. Hotaru sighed.

Behind her, a pair of wings appeared. One wing was the same as her Death form ones, the other was the same as her life form ones. **(1)** With that, she took the air, following Shin and his friends… She didn't like where this was going…

&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&

Thunder Country…

Itachi never wanted to go back there again. What normally took four days for a shinobi to travel through, took him and Kisame ten days. Every single goddamn person asked them to meet their daughter/son. Half of them mistook him for a girl. It took every ounce of willpower Itachi had not to wipe out every single family that they came across.

Someone up there did NOT like him….

(Seito: -Grin- Of course not, Itachi. We just like playing with you.)

&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&

Dusty libraries were never good thing, especially dark, dank, dusty libraries. Shin wasn't sure why Seika had dragged them down here. Suddenly he sneezed. Damnit… there was way too much dust in here. When was the last time someone dusted this place? It was WAY overdue for a cleaning job.

Seika, on the other hand, was searching through countless dusty scrolls. Jiraiya and Sasuke were lighting the thousands of candles that were scattered all over the library. Slowly, the room grew brighter and brighter and Shin could see where he was walking again.

"Ah, here they are," said Seika. She handed a scroll to Shin who nearly lost his balance from the new weight. "The whole history of the Slatrommi and Segaks recovered by the eyes of humans." She unrolled the scroll as Shin continued to stagger under the weight. Seika stopped at the part she was reading. After skimming it for a few seconds she continued her explanation from the restaurant.

"_Slatrommi _had many battles that turned the tide of the war in their favor. In the Battle of Light, several Slatrommi with the power of light were able to cause much damage to the _Segaks_ as light was their weakness. Those _Slatrommi_ were successful in wiping out three blue ranks, thirty red ranks, and thousands of black ranked Segaks. Another one was called the Battle of the Souls. A _Slatrommi _with the power of Death wiped out an entire army of Segaks in a single blast and then, everything that was damaged in the blast was repaired as if nothing had ever happened," said Seika.

No sooner had she said that, something clicked deep within Shin's heart. 'It can't be…' he thought. He scanned the scroll for the part Seika was talking about. He soon found it.

_Tsugua: 25, Doolb Yrutnec Dinw Reay **(2)**_

_Today the Slatrommi celebrate for a reason that doesn't seem all too clear. They have named this battle The Battle of Souls, yet as I watch from a distance I do not understand why they celebrate. The tide had turned once again in the favor of the Slatrommi and all thanks to one female Cosmos Elemental. I have never came cross a stranger Slatrommi or even heard of one possessing such power at such an age. A Slatrommi with the power of Death and possibly Life as well. She was nearly caught by the Segaks army. Then an eerie black light surrounded her and her appearance changed from a sun-kissed brown-haired and amethyst-eyed girl to a chilling black-haired, crimson red-eyed girl. It almost as if someone had ripped out my soul and I stood miles away from where the battle took place. I can only imagine what the Segaks felt upon encountering her. The entire Segaks army was engulfed in a black semi-sphere. When the light cleared, there was nothing but a gaping crater in the ground._

_I watched then, as a white light over came that girl. Once more, her appearance changed. Not to her former one, but to one of pure white hair and sapphire blue eyes. Instantly the ground repaired itself, and plants grew, as healthy and strong as before. In moments the area looked new, untouched as if a battle never took place._

_The Slatrommi celebrated upon hearing such news and that such a powerful mage was on their side. Yet none of them saw the tears that streamed down that girl's face…_

Shin suddenly handed the scroll back to Seika and headed for the doorway. "Yo, Shin. Where are you going?" asked Jiraiya.

"There's something I have to do," said Shin. "Something very important." It was important alright. He had to find his sister. She had some explaining to do…

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**(1)** Okay in chapter 7 you met both sides of Hotaru (her death side. First time Sasuke saw her was outside of Iruka's room when Iruka was in the hospital. Her life side is when Iruka made the choice at the doors.) So to describe her wings, just think that one is black, leathery and dragon-like and the other is white, feathery and bird-like. If you haven't figured it out yet, Hotaru's powers are both Life and Death. The form in which she often appears in (brown hair, purple eyes) represents the balance between the two. Her life form is the one where she wears white and black means her Death form. Easy right?

**(2)** Tsugua: 25, Doolb Yrutnec Dinw Reay means Year Wind, Century Blood, 25ft of August.

Seito: Everyone enjoy the chapter? Good, good, we hope we don't overload you with information again. It wasn't that bad… right? Now you can make the birthday girl (and QianYun too) happy and

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


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